Jenkins secured the $10,000 county grant to support NCC’s new anti-gang program that focuses on teaching the city’s youth peaceful alternatives to violence. This program will support the citywide anti-violence and gang prevention task force, the “City of Yonkers Violence and Gang Prevention Coalition Initiative.”

Comprised of government officials, community and church leaders, law enforcement, public school officials, representatives from local business and civic associations and community residents, task force members will meet monthly to discuss and plan anti-violence and gang prevention initiatives. The group will publish the quarterly Youth Explosions which will focus on anti-violence messages. It will also provide information for parents, educators and youth service professionals on what things indicate a gang’s presence and what warning signs to look for in a child to determine involvement in a gang.

The Coalition is set to communicate, above all, one clear message — Stop the Violence, Choose Life — through street signs and t-shirts. Jenkins explained that this simple slogan is the core of this new campaign to stamp out gang violence.