Game Changers starts spring break fundraising

April 1, 2016 at 12:08a.m.

By BRIAN DZENIS

WARREN

Starting this weekend, Warren native Michael Engram Jr. is kicking off his spring initiatives as part the “2016 Scholarship and ESPYS Experience” he launched last October.

Engram, who is the CEO of the non-profit Game Changers, has spent last fall and the early parts of 2016 holding academic and leadership programs for high school athletes across the state of Ohio. Game Changers has also been selecting athletes for weekly and monthly honors. Engram also has been working on rasing funds toward various charity initiatives and a grand prize of sending four high school athletes to the ESPYS, which will be held on July 13 in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater.

The latest venture? Determining “The King of the Wings.” On Saturday, Game Changers is hosting a competition for best chicken wings among seven area restaurants at The Tech Belt, 125 West Market Street in Warren, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Both the public and a panel of judges will decide the winners. There will also be a 50/50 and a wing-eating contest with a $250 cash prize for the winner. Proceeds from The King of the Wings will go toward a $10,000 scholarship fund. Any money beyond that goes to toward the ESPYS trip.

Last Summer, Engram flew to California to meet with ESPYS personnel to organize a trip in 2016. Prize-winners will get back-stage access, Engram said.

“ESPN personnel will do an entire behind-the-scenes experience for professional development experience,” Engram said. “We’re also doing a college tour just to give this an academic component as well.

“I don’t want this to be just an experience that they see,” Engram added.

Four winners will be chosen from roughly 80 school districts across the state who have had kids be apart of Game Changers programs. To qualify, student athletes must have at least a 3.0 GPA and perform community service for a set amount of hours. Contestants will also have to submit a video explaining what going to the ESPYS means to them and why they deserve the prize.

“This is our way of saying, you just can’t get something for anything,” Engram said. “We don’t want to give handouts, you want to have them work toward these great incentives.”

A few of the local contestants in the running include Warren Harding swimmer Michael Miller, Niles basketball player Cameron Kane-Johnson and Warren JFK football player Bobby Jefferson. Engram looks at them as leaders inside and outside their respective sports.

“It’s rock-star athletes like that who do things most people don’t see because they’re just looking at their sport,” Engram said. “This isn’t a jock, they’re using the same leadership they use in their sport.”

Game Changers is seeking campers for its 2016 Leadership and Team Building Boot Camp on April 9 at Youngstown State. The deadline is Sunday at 11:59 p.m. and is first-come, first-serve to the first 50 male and 50 female campers. It’s $35, but $15 can be waived if you use the promo code “vindy.”

Call Engram at 330-529-9808 for more information on that and other programs.