Giving Back: Suppliers Community Vision Takes Off By Traci Matt STAFF WRITER “There are those who dream the impossible dream, and then there are those who make their dreams come true.” — Sam Tompkins You’ve heard it takes a village to raise a child. To Sam Tompkins that’s not just a cliché—it’s a way of life. Tompkins, president of Atlanta’s Wood and Tompkins Cores, Inc., had a vision of a community coming alongside its children with genuine encouragement and the hands-on effort it takes to make success a reality. Over the past 14 years, that dream has materialized through the mentoring and intervention program Another Way Out (AWO). AWO, a nonpartisan, nonprofit cor- poration, plans to provide after school activities and adult mentoring for more than 500 Atlanta youth this coming school year. AWO’s Annual Southwest Community Festival, which began as a small company picnic 14 years ago, saw more than 25,000 people in attendance last month. “This is not anything I planned to do,” said Tompkins. “This started with three little boys that lived in the apartment complex next to me. They just hung around after school and that’s when I noticed the drug activity in the neighbor- hood. I didn’t think of it as a big organi- zation. But if everyone would try to help even one child, that’s how things get started. You just start small and stay real sincere.” Tompkins’ eyes sparkle when he talks about the thousands of eight-to 18-year- old kids his organization has served, but in his voice there’s no mistaking the corporation’s founder. AWO team players are seen here with Sam Tompkins ( far right), the non-profit seriousness of the task. “Not every kid is going to turn out to be a Michael Jordan,” he said. ““We need to teach them to set realistic goals and show them how to reach those goals. You can get to where you want to go provided you work hard and eliminate the negatives.” Specific “negatives” targeted by AWO include unhealthy peer pressure, teen parenthood, drugs, violence, and other “limiting behavior.” They cite the following sobering statistics: ¢ Sixty-two percent of African American children are raised by single parents, the majority of which are female. ¢ Seventy-two percent of African American males drop out before completing high school. ¢ Approximately 610,000 African American males between the ages of 20 and 29 years are in prison, on probation, or on parole. ¢ Only 437,000 African American males are enrolled in college. ¢ Homicide is the most frequent cause of death for African American males between the ages of 15 and 34. AWO works to change those statistics by providing “guidance, leadership, and opportunity” for young people in the Atlanta area. Their mission statement says their focus is “to strengthen our youth in the areas of career development, self-esteem, community involvement, cultural appreciation and value-oriented principles. ..to provide a positive alterna- tive for youth to enable them to become productive men and women.” According to Tompkins, their biggest challenge is finding enough adult men- tors to go around. They currently have 130 students targeted for mentors and about 15 adults willing to fill those shoes. He cites busy schedules, liability issues, and fear of the responsibility as stumbling blocks. “People are afraid of making that life- time commitment, but they don’t under- stand you start small. Once the relation- ship develops, it’s self-energizing. You don’t have to worry about it anymore,” he said. According to AWO_ Executive Program Director Mia Harris, the ideal