Staten Island, NY (August 2, 2017) – 2018 Democratic Congressional candidate Boyd Melson, a West Point graduate, retired professional boxer and Captain in the Army Reserve, is dedicating three days from his busy schedule to help others in Staten Island and beyond.
The 35-year-old, who is running in New York’s 11th district, is known for his selflessness. He regularly speaks to students of all ages, volunteers to run a free weekly boxing clinic on Staten Island at DeMarco’s Boxing Club for people battling or overcoming addiction and assists with various charitable causes.
On Thursday, August 3, Melson is volunteering to help Staten Island youths battling addiction. Melson, through the help of his network and assistance from Staten Island based organization Tackling Youth Substance Abuse (TYSA), arranged a full day of events for select youths on Staten Island trying to knock out their drug addictions. This free of charge event begins in the morning, where he’ll take roughly 15 teenagers to Breezy Point in Brooklyn. The trip to the beach at Breezy will involve swimming in the ocean, participating in guided meditation and team building events. Later that day, he’ll lead them to the Bronx for a tour of Yankee Stadium.
The next day, he returns to Staten Island to organize and play in the Heroes vs Legends Charity Softball Game at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home to the Staten Island Yankees. The full day, which has two charity games followed by the SI Yankees against the Aberdeen Ironbirds, helps raise money for families of injured soldiers. Melson played in this game in 2015 when the World Boxing Council asked him to attend as their representative during the game. He was originally invited to play on the Celebrity (Legends) team, but asked for the privilege to play for the Heroes instead.
The Heroes team is made up of Veterans who earned Purple Hearts in combat. This year he’ll once again play for the Heroes team. The event is presented by Heroes Sports, a 501(c) (3) providing organized support and sporting activities for veterans. All staff members are volunteers and 100% of all donations go straight to veteran support. More information on Heroes Sports can be found atwww.HeroesSports.org.
The morning of Saturday, August 5, Melson is going to Ten Mile River (TMR) Boy Scout Camping Grounds and will serve as the keynote speaker for their 90th anniversary celebration. An Eagle Scout himself, Melson began his life in scouting at the age of 5 as a Cub Scout and earned his Eagle Scout rank during his plebe (freshman) year at West Point.
Melson camped at TMR’s Camp Keowa for 5 years as a Cub Scout and then at Camp Aquehonga for 4 years as a Boy Scout. He worked as a counselor at Aquehonga for two summers as well before reporting to West Point. There will be over 400 campers and Boy Scout leaders in attendance at the TMR 90th anniversary. Melson vividly remembers the annual Jamboree and Ghost-o-ree events that took place at Camp Pouch.
“What more can I ask for,” said the jubilated Melson. “I was put on this earth to help serve humanity. This is what I was built for. I am very thankful to all of the individuals who go to bat for me helping me help others. There is nothing more important to me than helping children. I have turned my full focus on helping knock out addiction on Staten Island.”
“I need to start with helping the children on Staten Island who have fallen to the disease known as drug addiction. Through the help of my publicist Matt Yanofsky, we were able to get in touch with the former NBA star Rex Chapman and he’s flying in Thursday to spend the day with these children. I need these children to understand how loved they are and that even former NBA players and the NY Yankees are behind them knocking out their addictions.”
“As for the softball game, my commitment to helping improve the lives of Veterans is second to none. There are 24,000 Veterans that live on Staten Island. I am committed to helping each and every single one that I can. I hope I’m able to lead by example and show how much can be accomplished with hard work and love. I am in the community on Staten Island every day and I am not of the constitution where I sit around and wait for any entity to help those who need help when I’m capable of using my ability to personally assist. I am the best version of myself when I am fighting to help improve the lives of those around me. We can do this Staten Island because We Are Strong Now and I living daily in your corner.”