In the face of rising crime and dropout rates, a new local organization is determined to change the focus of youth to promote education, community involvement and respect.

To that end, the organization, called “Bruthas to Brother,” is sponsoring a community fun day on Saturday at Methodist Hill.

Marcus Mickles, representative of Bruthas to Brother, said that the inspiration for the organization came from a desire to give back.

“A couple of friends and I were sitting around talking about things we could do to help the community, and do some things that we thought should’ve been done for us,” he said. “We thought a good way to do that was to start with the kids, and help them with school supplies while letting them have a little fun in the process.”

The community fun day is the first of many planned events from the organization, and it will be open to the general public for free.

The event will feature free food as well as several games for children, including musical chairs, face paintings, basketball and a duck pond.

There will also be competitive games, including a three-point shootout, in which school supplies will be given to the winners as prizes.

Since Bruthas to Brothers is a relatively young organization, donations will go a long way toward making the community fun day a success.

Hotdogs, hamburgers, buns, drinks, charcoal, or school supplies are needed.

However, Mickles said that the most important thing is to just come out and show support for the event.

“We need to take advantage of our own success and the things that we’ve learned to give back to our community and put our kids back on the right path,” he said. “That goes along with our motto, which is ‘bettering our youth as we better ourselves.’”