VIDEO: Ray’s Kidz: Punching out Poverty Punching out Poverty in Syracuse

(Ray Rinaldi)
“They all say the same thing:‘Ray, you saved my life.’”

(Sam Rothman, Reporter)
For decades, kids in Syracuse have been telling Ray Rinaldi just that. That he has saved their lives by keeping them off the street, and instead, in the ring. Ray, who is now 90 years old, is the founder of the Ray’s Kidz program at the West Area Athletic and Education Center. Children come straight here after school and stay for hours to box.

(Faisal)
“It’s a second home to me.”

(Sam Rothman, Reporter)
Faisal is just one of the 7,000 kids who has trained in this gym, at no cost, since it first opened in 1994.

(Ray Rinaldi)
“You’ve got to understand. These are the kids at risk. They don’t have a chance.”

(Sam Rothman, Reporter)
But Ray, along with his nephew, Coach Chris, give them that chance, in a city where nearly half of all children lived in poverty last year.

(Chris Burns)
“If they have a safe haven, even if it’s somewhere for three hours a day, they can get away from the struggle their parents are going through.”

(Faisal)
“In general kids, don’t know how to really express themselves and really release not only anger, but tiredness, frustration.”

(Sam Rothman, Reporter)
To release that anger, kids sometimes fight in school. Surprisingly though, boxing, a sport which is all about throwing punches, actually helps stop that violence.

(Ray Rinaldi)
“These same kids that have fought in the schools like that, they don’t do it here. They actually become friends.”

(Faisal)
“It helped me out to just spill it out all here.”

(Sam Rothman, Reporter)
Kids like Faisal can now focus on what they actually go to school for…an education. Faisal will be graduating with an Advanced Regents diploma, a feat that only eight percent of Syracuse City School District students achieve.

(Ray Rinaldi)
“We’ve had kids taken out of gangs and got them through Syracuse University. That’s how far they come.”

(Sam Rothman, Reporter)
And for the kids, this program is so much more than just boxing.

(Chris Burns)
“Kids all the time will come up to me and say, ‘Hey, you know this is kinda weird, but I view you as another parent.’ And I say, ‘Good. That’s why I’m here.”

(Sam Rothman, Reporter)
It’s more like a second family.