TROY, NY (WRGB) — Putting kids first is the mission for the non-profit by the same name.

"At a time when the need could not be greater, we need to do more for our kids," said Kidz First President, John D’ Antonio.

The non-profit is made up of former municipal workers bringing their areas of expertise together ranging from parks and recreation, law enforcement, athletics, and more.

“I think sports play a big part; I really do,” D’ Antonio added. “I think by getting kids involved in sport programs we'll get them off the street, get them involved in structured activities."

The idea for the organization came about six months ago; the Troy city school district is their first partnership.

The program provides after school sport options for young students, that includes the schools first girls flag football team and the only team in Section 2.

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For the high school students, there are pathways to the skilled trades with the help of the Laborers Local 190 Union.

Superintendent of schools John Carmello said, “We have graduates every year that go to some of the top colleges in the country, Ivy League- but it’s not everybody and there’s a great living to be made in these labor unions.”

Gwennan Booth, a representative from NYS Laborers-Employers Cooperation Education Trust said, “Our goal of working with Kidz First and the school district is to educate students about entering the trades and entering that career path. there's a place in our union and a job site for everyone."

Gang prevention and intervention is a main component of the organization's mission.

"There's a lot of issues out there with our kids; they're navigating the streets which is very hard so we're trying to give them the tools they need to overcome that peer pressure,” said Ron Barrett, gang prevention specialist with Kidz First.

Grassroots group UFD founder Dontie Mitchell says there needs to be more community involvement and meet the school districts halfway in order to keep change coming.

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" I go off the principle that it takes a village to raise a child and if you are a teacher versus a mentor or someone in the community who has an interest in helping kids, you should always be involved. there should always be partnerships between those two fractions for the purposes of ensuring that these kids are moving in the direction we need them to in order to be successful in life."

Mitchell, who’s been at his mentorship efforts for almost two years now says funding and community support is the biggest hurdle to get over in order to make effective change.

“I’ve had a GoFundMe page to raise money for my UFD organization, the work I do with the youth since I’ve been home. We were asking for a modest $15,000 and we only raised about $2,600,” he said. “We’ve been on the news a couple of times, we’ve been promoting it on social media but it hasn’t seemed to draw out the support.”

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