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Our June Man of the Month is Detroit City Lions Youth Club President, Devon Buskin.
Being a servant leader runs in Devon Buskin’s blood with his grandfather holding office as deputy mayor during Mayor Coleman Young’s administration and his community activist grandmother sharing her passion for youth as a long-time music teacher at Detroit Public Schools. He learned the importance of remaining active in the community by carefully studying their impact on those around him. After graduating from Western Michigan University, Devon secured an internship with the Michigan Department of Transportation where he led initiatives to diversify the workforce by recruiting young minorities for civil engineering positions. Buskin still longed to do more for Detroit’s youth and provide them with necessary resources to prepare them for higher education and beyond. This is what led him to found the Detroit City Lions Youth Club.
The mission of the Detroit City Lions Youth Club (DCL) is to provide at-risk boys and girls with access to much-needed athletic programs and academic services. DCL’s goal is to help cohesively develop young healthy bodies and healthy minds, readying them to become physically and academically competitive in today's world. DCL focuses on providing both traditional and non-traditional sports such as football, soccer, basketball, baseball, chess, lacrosse, swimming, gymnastics, dance, and cheer; as well as tutoring and mentoring services, STEAM programming, robotics, conflict resolution, leadership development, financial literacy, and youth employment. All of these programs are offered at no cost to the families of the participants. To date, more than 300 youth have participated in DCL programming with the organization securing numerous partnerships including the Detroit Lions, Detroit Pistons, Marygrove Conservancy, Strategic Community Partners, Chemical Bank, Detroit Housing Commission, and several others under Buskin’s leadership.
“My goal through DCL is to leave a legacy,” said Devon Buskin, president of Detroit City Lions Youth Club. “I want to show the kids that hard work does pay off… but most importantly that they are part of this revitalization that’s happening in Detroit. It’s really the youth that run this program and keeps it alive.”
Moving forward, Devon Buskin hopes that DCL will be fully funded by grants and that the initiative will develop businesses to financially support DCL’s programing. Buskin and his board are also developing a template of DCL’s operations that can be shared and replicated by other organizations across the country. To learn more about Detroit City Lions Youth Club visit, http://www.detroitcitylions.org/.