At Impact Boxing Outreach in Paso Robles, the sound is routine — gloves on bags, coaches working one-on-one. For many of the kids, the boxing gym inside the church where they were practicing was more than exercise; it meant structure, mentorship and a safe place to be, but all of that could soon be no more if the organization doesn’t secure a new location.
From a garage gym to a community lifeline, Paso Robles’ Impact Boxing Outreach faces a fight for its future.
What started eight years ago with just a couple of kids in a garage has become a free sanctuary for more than 80 local kids and their families.
“There were some parents in the church that had some kids that were kind of dealing with school stuff and home stuff, and so they asked if I would maybe try to mentor them, and so I’m like, ‘Hey, how about if we do boxing?” said Impact Boxing Outreach founder and coach Marcus Rostro. “We went from one kid in the garage, to six kids in the garage, to the church parking lot, and then we were at 20-something kids, and then it just snowballed.”
But now it’s lights out for Impact Boxing Outreach, which was based inside a nearby Paso Robles church, as they look for a new home.
“I’d be really sad, because I would miss being with my friends and the people there training,” said boxing student Bryan Cruz. “I would really miss that.”
“I’d be devastated,” said Owen Lameray, another Impact Boxing Outreach student. “I love coming here every week. It makes me happy, so I’d be super upset to hear that we’re never going to be able to do it again.”
Impact Boxing Outreach is looking for a 5,000- to 10,000-square-foot facility to keep rolling with the punches, which means they’ll need roughly $7,000 a month to keep the lights on.
For Aiden Hidalgo, it was an outlet for his anger, and his mom, Amanda Ramos, says Impact Boxing has left a positive impact on her son.
“Not only has he figured out a solution of taking away the anger that he had previously but also becoming to having someone that he can look up to and having that leadership,” Ramos said. “That’s something that, as a single mom, I don’t really… I can’t fulfill all of those needs.”
Rostro says he has seen how impactful Impact Boxing Outreach has been in keeping kids off the street, teaching them life skills and becoming like a small family every week, and says he can only see the program growing bigger.
“I don’t want to see the program come to an end,” he said. “I would love for it to keep going and being able to do what we do, and there is a bigger vision for the ministry, you know. We would like to do more and be more involved in the community.”
If you’d like to help Impact Boxing Outreach out by donating or becoming a monthly pledge partner, click here.
