MILWAUKEE — Helping Kids Better Themselves (HKBT) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to restore the wellbeing of Milwaukee’s north side.
It’s doing that through community engagement, neighborhood services and youth activities.
During the summer, HKBT volunteers work to feed children a free breakfast and lunch at Atkinson Park every weekday. As an added incentive to come, the organization hosts a free, informal basketball camp Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. They call it Fast Break n’ Breakfast.
“It’s fun and I want to be here. I want to come here every day,” said Mion Dooley, who turns 9 years old soon. “It’s a lot of hard work, but you’ve got to keep going.”
Brandon Triggs is the executive director of HKBT. He also leads the free basketball camp. He grew up in the neighborhood and still lives close to the basketball courts at Atkinson Park.
“I was here daily,” he said. “Me and some of the other coaches in the program, we were here daily, competing, sweating and using the water across the street at our friend’s house when we got tired.”
He said he is working to bring back the sense of community and camaraderie he felt when he was little. He said it’s important for young men and boys in the city to have positive things to do, people to look up to and neighbors looking out for them.
“If they are here doing this, they’re not out doing other things that may not be so beneficial for them or the community,” Triggs said. “It helps them learn hard work and dedication, getting up every morning, coming out, putting in the work, knowing that it’s all about effort, hard work, determination and education.”
Triggs said he believes everyone can do something to help steer more Milwaukee youth in positive directions. Meeting them on the basketball court and building connections is his way of doing that.
Dooley, while still just a kid, said he looks forward to playing basketball every summer with the friends he’s made through HKBT.
“I hope we will be friends when we grow up and when we are teenagers,” he said.
The organization relies on community support and collaboration to keep going. For more information on the organization, click here.