Our Story

Roosevelt Banks and Kenny Hardy, 1971 graduates of Spencer High School, were best friends and basketball teammates during the late '60s. After graduation, they obtained college degrees, had long successful careers in the U. S. Air Force, transitioned into civilian life, and raised families while living in Anchorage, Alaska, and San Antonio, Texas, respectively. One subject that dominated their frequent and long telephone conversations over the years was the positive experiences they had participating in youth programs at the Brookhaven Branch YMCA, which at the time had A.J. McClung as its director. As a result, in the spring of 2023, they co-founded a loosely knit group with other men who had similar experiences and informally dubbed themselves as the "Y Boys". The group mostly exchanged text messages about the male staffers at the "Y" who helped mold them into the successful men that they became. A year later in early March 2024, group member Homer Davis, who resides in Selma, Alabama and is a two-time Alabama high school basketball coach of the year, sent a game-changing text message to the others. It was simple and powerful. It stated, "Let's make a love offering to the "Y."

Davis' words were persuasive and they mobilized the "Y Boys" into action. The director at the A. J. McClung YMCA, Edmund Peabody, was contacted and informed of the group's existence and its plans to become involved with the "Y." He told the group that the Y's greatest immediate need was for a scoreboard for its gymnasium.

Group member Larry Thomas, who resides in Albany and was the first African American tax appraiser for Dougherty County, arranged for initial seed money for the project. The "Y Boys" then partnered with James "Monk" Johnson—a Columbus football legend, former San Francisco 49er, retired food safety inspector, and founder and president of the Spencer High Student Support Club. The two groups contributed $1,500 in additional seed money and secured support from local businesses. It was Johnson who suggested a fish fry, individually pre-sold over 150 fish plates, transported his own cooking equipment to the site, and worked tirelessly behind the scenes for a hugely successful fundraiser on May 18, 2024, on the premises adjacent to the YMCA. On May 24, 2024, six days later, a 9-foot-long scoreboard was delivered. 

What began with a single love offering for the McClung YMCA quickly ignited a broader mission across Columbus. Inspiring a renewed dedication to our local youth, that initial effort laid the foundation for YBoyz-2-Men to expand its reach. Building on this momentum, our fellowship launched three subsequent community initiatives in partnership with Columbus Parks and Recreation and the Housing Authority of Columbus. These efforts brought mentorship, literacy packs, essential health distributions, and mother's gift sets directly into neighborhoods and recreation centers. Today, we remain deeply committed to honoring our roots while actively serving and uplifting families throughout all of Columbus.