Boys and Girls Club host 4th Annual Monterey County Gang Prevention Summit

In hopes of changing lives, the Boys and Girls Club of Monterey County held their 4th annual Gang Prevention Summit on Saturday.

Parents and children from around Monterey County attended the summit.

Just over a week ago a 14-year old boy was shot and killed in Salinas in what was believed to be a gang-related shooting. With that in the forefront of community members minds, organizers say awareness is needed now more than ever. “I believe that in our Community there are many challenges the we are facing, but every year we are seeing different challenges and that is the reason that we need to update our education on how do we really face violence in our community,” says Jose Moran with the Boys and Girls Club.

Salinas native and former gang member Willie Stokes says gang influence can start at a very early age, “now a days what I’m seeing, you’re talking about 5th 6th graders. I think the younger we can get them, the better off we’re gonna be. At least they’re gonna have some type of hope to avoid the gang influence that’s in the community cause it’s all over the place.”

Stokes spent 17 years of his life in and out of Pelican Bay Prison. He says he wishes he had someone to tell him the truth about gangs when he was younger. “All these kids hear is the glamorous side, the girls, the partying, the money, the nice cars, but no one tells them really what it’s all about. And I wish I would have had someone who did that for me, and that’s why I do it for them,” says Stokes.

Along with community member speaking, Salinas Police Chief spoke alongside other organizations. The words they’re speaking, not falling on deaf ears, “It was incredible, for me personally, I was really impacted. It was insane how much like I learned. It’s definitely something people don’t like to talk about, but it’s definitely something we should be talking about,” says Boys and Girls Club Member Angela Valdez Escobedo.