By Mike Kinney
A Richmond boxing weight-trainer’s new nonprofit will launch its free, 4-week anti-bullying course starting Wednesday, Aug. 4.
Each month starting in August, four to six kids will receive free training at Juan Nunez’s gym, called “Juan’s Gym,” at 12718 San Pablo Ave. in Richmond, near Garvin Avenue. Participants are ages 10 and older and adults can participate as well, Nunez said.
“All of our anti-bully classes are free to the community,” he said.
Classes focus on training individuals who may have issues with self-esteem, confidence or other problems that negatively impact their lives.
“The program teaches exercise and weight training but most importantly it teaches everyone, be they young or old, how to protect themselves and to have the confidence to do as such,” Nunez said. “We train people how to mentally condition themselves to have better self-esteem and confidence.”
The free anti-bullying courses are part of Nunez’s seven-month-old nonprofit, God’s Creations, which aims to offer anti-bullying programs and to raise funds for charities and nonprofit organizations in Richmond.
Local teens praise Nunez’s ability to train their way toward self-confidence.
“Having a good trainer like Mr. Nunez teaches us self-defense, and to me that is the most important part of the training here,” said Gael Torres, 17.
Emiliano Arana, 12, added, “we learn a lot about respect,” while Alessandro Torres, 15, called the one-on-one training is effective and “really helps me to become stronger.”
Nunez said his mission is to empower youth and adults to learn to defend themselves. And while they earn the ability to defend themselves, they’ll develop tools enabling them to overcome a wide variety of life challenges.
“I like to emphasis to any of our students who were victims, it was not your fault you were targeted,” Nunez said. “We train our students to be alert and be aware of their surroundings. We instill in them not to become a sitting duck or target.”
Through God’s Creations, Nunez aims to expand the anti-bullying program to include outreach at local schools, nonprofits and other areas of the community.
Interested in learning more about the program? Contact Juan at (510) 815-1066.
