*MIAMI, Florida (WFOR) — The 5000 Role Models of Excellence held their 31st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Breakfast on Monday where they also inducted rapper Rick Ross as a mentor.
Held annually on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, the Role Models of Excellence breakfast honors the partnership between the men in the community and the young male students in Miami-Dade and Broward County schools.
They all wear signature red ties, with connected hands signifying their relationship.
“Ever since I put this tie on, it’s been lights camera action,” said Miami Central High senior Jarvis Jones.
For the students who take part in the program, they say the experience is life-changing.
Erick Contreas, who also attends Miami Central High School and is a 12th grader, said it’s changed his life.
“It’s been very impactful because now I’m being guided into not just on the right path but I’m being guided to college and brotherhood,” he said.
“As long as you put in the work, and we do what we do on our end, she’s gonna do her part on the back end and then everything is good,” added Jones.
The ‘she’ he is referring to is 5000 Role Models of Excellence founder U.S. Congresswoman Frederica Wilson.
“This benefits young men by raising funds to send them to college, it also validates why they had to struggle to get to this place. It’s not easy being a boy in America today, especially a little Black boy,” said Wilson.
One of this year’s honorees comes from South Florida. Rapper Rick Ross says he wants to be an example of someone coming from Miami Gardens and making it.
“I just want the youngsters to know, you have the attention of the entire world. You can never imagine the value that you actually carry. You can never imagine how much you’re really worth,” said Ross.
One hundred percent of the seniors who make up the Wilson Scholars are college-bound and it’s money raised at breakfasts like this that helps send them there.
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