MVP Foundation Hosts Manhood Summit At Cox Business Center

On Friday, more than 100 kids took part in an annual Manhood Summit at the Cox Business Center in Tulsa to talk about things like honor, integrity, and respect.

Men from all kinds of professional backgrounds teamed up to teach the kids about character. A conference room was turned into a basketball court inside the Cox Business Center.

When Cody Jackson looks at the hardwood he sees his future and if not basketball.

 "Create my own school,” said Cody. “I want to help kids get an education."

More than 50 men including News On 6’s Harold Kuntz were on hand teaching the boys how to tie a tie, use tools and how to save money.

"I understand the hurt, the pain, the embarrassment," said Demario Solomon-Simmons of the MVP Foundation. "The feeling of emptiness when you don't have those men around you that's really guiding you and giving you what you need when you transition from boyhood into manhood."

"These kids are growing up in a little bit of a different environment than what we grew up in. But with a little bit of perseverance, of want to and will they can do and achieve anything they want to," said TPD Sgt. Marcus Harper.

They hope that message will have a lasting impact on boys like 8th grader Ely Brooks.

“A lot of young men don't have a father to teach them, the right way to be and I don't have one either so it's pretty nice to have people like this help teach young men," said Ely.