Guv’nors Boxing Club in Cambodia Town has been rolling with the punches of the pandemic for the past year but has plenty to celebrate as of late.
This week marked three years since opening its doors. Updated health orders have allowed for indoor gym reopenings. Most recently, the new year brought a partnership with Local Hearts Foundation and the Manny Pacquiao Foundation to help the youth in the community through boxing.
Local Hearts Foundation President Tito Rodriguez, also known as “Hood Santa,” took to his Instagram to share the partnership, also adding that partners to sponsor kids are being sought.
“Let’s change our neighborhoods, Let’s keep the youth off the streets,” the post said.
The collaboration is still in its beginning stages—with plans being developed—but excitement is already brewing within the partners.
“It’s definitely motivating,” Liz Q Parr, the gym’s owner said of the partnership. “It feels like someone didn’t forget about us.”
“I’m upstairs, people don’t really know that I’m here yet,” she said. “[The gym is] woman-owned, I’m a minority, it’s kind of like all these things together and then for something that big to approach me, I feel like ‘Cool man, I’m glad that you didn’t forget that we’re here.’”
For Parr, the partnership is new, but helping the youth isn’t. She already offers a boxing class to children ages 7 to 17, something she is passionate about.
Helping the community is also something Parr is passionate about, having volunteered with the Local Hearts Foundation for years, which is how the partnership idea began.
“I like what she’s doing,” Rodriguez said. “We had an opportunity to talk and she’s pretty much trying to help save kids’ lives.”
Knowing that Parr is a four-time National Gold Medal winning boxer, Rodriguez reached out to the Manny Pacquiao Foundation with the intention of helping Parr in her mission to keep children off the streets.
“We want to help her gym get some recognition,” Rodriguez said. “We want to help her get some recognition as obviously a good human in the community, but even more than that, you know, a woman in boxing. We wanted to spotlight her and show the community that she’s there.”
According to Rodriguez, they’re in the process of getting Parr professional boxing equipment through the Local Hearts Foundation and the Manny Pacquiao Foundation and hope that this partnership piques the interest of anyone in the city or nearby cities that wants to help sponsor a kid or multiple children.
Robert Lyons, member of the board of directors for the Manny Pacquiao Foundation, said that gear for coaches and wraps for their hands will also be provided, emblazoned with Long Beach, Pacquiao Foundation and Guv’nors gym logos.
“We’re going to get them duffel bags that they can be proud to carry their equipment into the gym,” Lyons said.
Parr, Rodriguez and Lyons have parallels that unite them, but the strongest one is the desire to give back to their communities.
Lyons noticed Rodriguez’s grassroots operation in putting together Thanksgiving turkey drives and school supply drives with Local Hearts. He saw the similarities between Hood Santa and Manny Pacquiao in terms of giving back to their respective neighborhoods.
See Related: ‘Bringing the hood together’: Local Hearts Foundation and friends distribute over 1,000 turkeys to those in need
“He really didn’t have any money,” Lyons said of Pacquiao. “And the reason he started fighting was to bring money back to his family, to provide food on the table and to give his family a better life and what he says now, now he’s fighting to provide for the [Philippines].”
Lyons noted that Pacquiao wants to go global in his goal to give back and provide for people in need.
“I see where people need things and we try to help them,” Lyons said of his own community service. “And they definitely need help in District 6 of Long Beach and what [Tito] was doing there was incredible,” referring to the turkey distribution.
According to Lyons, visits to the gym between partners started taking place recently, bringing in boxing coaches into the conversation and the inclusion of some Long Beach Police Department officers who were interested in helping to train.
“They had shown a strong interest because they want to give back to the community,” he said of the officers.
The partners want to tie in education and are looking to implement a system. It will likely involve attendance and will help those having trouble with school get connected with tutors, according to Lyons.
Lyons stated that there will be an effort to reach out to local universities that would be willing to give back with some community service. Another plan includes talking to the kids about nutrition and the importance of eating good and sleeping well.
This is the first time the Manny Pacquiao Foundation is involved in a partnership of this kind.
“Tying it all in together, it’s really going to help Guv’nors, it’ll help the program having Manny’s name attached to it,” Lyons said, adding that Local Hearts Foundation’s participation will also help due to the community’s familiarity with the organization.
If all goes according to plan, Lyons said he hopes that this model can be used on a national and global level in the future.
“So, the more people we can get involved and other foundations we can get involved with, and getting them on board, it’s going to be a win-win for the bottom line which is helping the kids out.”
To sponsor a youth boxer residents can reach out to Tito Rodrigez on Instagram at @thehoodsanta. To learn more about boxing classes for the youth, follow Guv’nors Boxing Club at @guvnorsboxingclub and stay up to date with the Pacquiao Foundation by following @pacquiaofoundation
