I strongly caution anyone from becoming involved with C2k Ministries.
The leadership of C2k Ministries is only interested in making themselves look good. The Executive Director and his wife present an image to donors that they are beloved and accepted by the community in which they live, but this is not the case. Lifelong community members do not trust this couple, nor do they support their efforts.
The co-founders of this ministry handpick board members who will agree with their views and choices, rather than people who will be honest and hold leadership accountable. When staff or volunteers question the co-founders they are intimidated, threatened, and ultimately let go. One of the co-founders told me, and this is a direct quote, "Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization." The other co-founder told me that he would not dismiss an employee for lying about their qualifications/experience and falsifying work documents because that employee is African American and then he (the leader) would look racist. The Executive Director has threatened, belittled, and verbally abused his employees & volunteers on multiple occasions.
C2k Ministries specializes in "poverty p*rn" and students can only participate in their programs if their parents sign a blanket media release. Many of the parents they work with are functionally illiterate and do not know exactly what they are signing. The students are told if they do not smile for the pictures or participate in the videos they will be kicked out of the programs.
C2k Ministries also only seeks to help students who do not cause any "problems." Some examples include:
If a student repeatedly falls asleep at the program they are kicked out, rather than working with the family to see why the student is unusually tired.
Students with behavioral issues, including ADHD, are punished and shamed in front of the other students.
The leaders use donations to pay for their own vacations. They eat the food that is purchased with ministry funds for the students, and they give the food away to others when they visit them at home. The leaders, a white couple, refuse to let any of the staff (all people of color) speak at fundraising engagements. Rather, this white couple travels at the ministry's expense to "fundraise" in locations that are conveniently located near their families and friends. The Executive Director often purchases himself alcoholic beverages while out with students, staff, and donors using ministry funds - and he has on multiple occasions gotten inebriated during these meals.
C2K is a wonderful non profit working in one of the neediest areas of Mississippi. They are doing a wonderful job with their after school that teaches and mentors children and takes kids from academic failure to success. They are using the approach of working with children to improve academic achievement so that these same children can go on to live a successful life and be asset to their families and neighborhood. The ripple effect of their work is tremendous. They don't just work with the kids. They are a resource of values and assistance for the whole community!
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Because every kid matters, C2K is using the "one starfish on the beach" approach to rescuing kids that struggle academically and socially in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Mound Bayou is one of the poorest cities in the United States and some of the residents of this almost all African American community face many challenges to overcome to become successful in life. C2K gives students the tools and skills through after a school program, a leadership academy, music academy and community center activities. Phil and Kym Shank, the organization's founders and leaders, have taken failing students and helped them become successful students, without taking any support for themselves from the organization. My husband and I support them and C2K wholeheartedly and feel that the ripple effect of their efforts will lift up the whole community and lift it's residents out of poverty and lack of education. Every dollar donated goes to resourcing the many programs that C2K offers and directly benefits the students.