ADELPHI, Md. — A year later, The Thump Yard in Adelphi, Maryland continues to spread a message to the community it serves.
"You got to put the gloves up and the guns down, that's our whole motto," founder Jonathan De La Cruz shared.
It's a motto that he says hits home after he founded the community with his brother in the Spring of 2021. De La Cruz was inspired by his father; a professional boxer.
The founder used to compete in boxing, but the future he planned was stolen from him in 2009 once he became a victim of gun violence. He's started the group to raise awareness about the persistent problem that plagues the DMV.
What started as a platform to release aggression in backyard amateur fights has become a full production inside venues like Sunday's "Thump For a Cause Amateur Boxing Show" in Adelphi.
"Boxing is a competitive sport, right? People get in there, test themselves; it pushes them to be better people," De La Cruz said.
"I got involved because I didn't like how my life was," a 16-year-old boxer who participated at Sunday's event shared. "I wanted to help my family. Get a better life for my baby sister that was born just like two weeks ago."
Richards said he's found his passion and hopes to someday make the sport his career. "If you're focused on the things you want to do, you can do it. I promise you," he said.
A father at the event also shared his hopes for a better future for the next generation. Hattie Weather, the father of two young boxers ages 9 and 10, said he'd prefer his kids be inside a gym instead of practicing other sports outside where gun violence prevails.
"It's more confined, they can be more focused on what they are doing instead of worrying about their surroundings," he said.
De La Cruz said he already knows they've been able to change some young minds in the ring, along with the lives of grown men; some formerly incarcerated, others with anger after losing loved ones to gun violence.
"They're taking their boxing to the next level," he said. "They have gotten away from the streets and whatever life they were living before, and now they have a training regimen and they're taking boxing serious."
Learn more about The Thump Yard and get involved by clicking here.