NIR Radio for June 5, 2013

 Donald Northcross was born in Ashdown, Arkansas. He was raised by devotedly religiously parents. Donald was taught at a very early age to value family, honesty, hard work and civic responsibility.

His mounting desire to reverse the grim statistics that young black boys were facing led him to found the O. K. (Our Kids) Program, and innovative mentioning program that organized black men from the community to work with young black males living in one of the most violent inner city neighborhoods in Sacramento County.

In 1994, his awarding winning program was not only credited with the increased academic performance of the young boys who were members, but it was also credited for the monumental reduction of crime and gang violence seen in Rancho Cordova in Sacramento--the violent inner city community in which most of the boys resided. As a result, Mr. Northcross was the 1994 recipient of the Jefferson Award and later that year, he was named Sacramento Safe Street Hero of the year. Under his leadership, the award winning O.K. Program became a notional organization.