Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcellus “Jamaal” Irvin.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Marcellus. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
The foundation started in 2012 with a flag football game. For several months my friend Gonzo begged me for a rematch after his team lost in a charity celebrity basketball game I had previously put together. By the time I agreed to it, it was football season, so I told him we’ll do a flag football game instead. I scheduled it the weekend before Christmas, so I asked everyone playing in the game to bring something, rather food for us to cook on the BBQ Pit or a toy. I was good friends with a Dj, car club, bike club, and the owner of a kids entertainment company, so I asked them to come to help us out. The event was bigger than any of my expectations. We had plenty of food and toys. The Dj was jamming, my friend who owns the kid’s entertainment company set up moon jumps, the car club displayed their vehicles, and the bike club did tricks on their motorcycles which left the kids in awe.
The next year, my other friend Joseph asked me if I was doing it again and I said I didn’t plan to. He told me I had to, and he would help me out. We did it again, and the event was even bigger, and we raised even more toys.
The next year, I saw what Lebron James had done with his foundation, so I modeled mines after his.
I added a purpose for the foundation, which is to motivate underprivileged kids to do well in school. To achieve this goal, I expanded the foundation’s initiatives and incentives to year-round pizza parties, scholarships, entertainment complexes, back to school supply drives and of course, the flag football game toy drive.
We now have over 250 kids in our foundation.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The only main obstacle/challenge has been funding when it’s time to pay for our initiatives. Our initiatives are expensive because we offer year-round events for over 250 kids. Other than that it has been a smooth road.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Miracles At Tha Spot Foundation aims to inspire and impact the lives of disadvantaged children through educational initiatives and incentives. We want to show them that doing well in school will reward them in life. We didn’t want kids to lose hope in doing well in school just because their parents can’t reward them sometimes, and they feel it’s pointless. We are known for providing great rewards to children. Not all of our members get every reward because each initiative requires certain grades. When we first started, some of our members saw what they were missing out on, and it motivated them to do better, which they did. For example, Our pizza parties require A/B Honor Roll on report cards. Our first pizza party only had 29 members. Our second had 45, our third had 54 and every party afterward, even more. The thing I’m most proud of is that we are able to invest in children futures and hopefully one day they will be in a position to invest in other children as well.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was just a regular kid. I either went outside to play basketball or down the street to play games at my friend’s house. As I got older, I realized how underprivileged Acres Homes was. My parents were married and for the most part, stayed employed, unlike most children in acres homes. A lot of families around there didn’t have the same benefits. They were just trying to survive, which meant that eating, paying rent, or getting home safe was the only focus and goals. When I became an adult, I realized how important education is, and it really is the answer to every problem.
Pricing:
- Membership is free
Contact Info:
- Address: 5380 W 34th st. #186
Houston, TX 77092 - Website: www.MiracleSpot.org
- Phone: 8324165582
- Email: MiraclesAtThaSpot@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/MiraclesAtThaSpot
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/MiraclesAtThaSpot
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