From Monday through Friday, at the Jamestown Area YMCA, the former JHS basketball and football standout has brought his 501 (c) 3, non-for-profit organization, Give N’ Grow Basketball, to the city free of charge. Thursday’s program day had more than 25 attendees, with four area high school basketball standouts volunteering their time to support this endeavor.

“I started the organization to combine all the things I love – basketball, mental health, coaching, mentoring and communication skills,” he said. “We’re engaging students in mental health programming, and we are revolutionizing how mental health programming is delivered in partnership with organizations like the Jr. NBA, Cleveland Cavs Youth Sports, Jr. 76ers, Under Armour, Dick’s Sporting Goods and elementary schools across the country.”

According to Cecchini’s organizational website, givengrowbasketball.org the program recognizes that depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyper-activity disorder (ADHD) and teen suicide are increasing worldwide, which is why elevating the mental health of K-12 students in a productive, uplifting way is the top priority for Cecchini’s non-profit.

“We focus on developing young basketball players and potential youthful players’ fundamental basketball skills, along with positive communication techniques, coping strategies and mental health awareness; we do a lot of virtual assemblies online with elementary schools,” said Cecchini, who now lives in Costa Rica.

Ben Cecchini, center, a Jamestown native and 2009 graduate of Jamestown High School and founder of Give N’ Grow basketball, speaks with an assembled group of youth at the Jamestown Area YMCA, during one of his specialized mental health and basketball programs. P-J photo by Christopher Blakeslee

The skills, values and techniques the Give ‘N Grow basketball program is wishing to impart on the program participants appears to be well received by some of the youthful ballers.

“I learned some new dribbling techniques that I can juke people on the floor with,” said Isaiah Torres, a Jamestown Public Schools student. “Ben’s pretty cool. He knows basketball; eating pizza at the end of the practice is one of the best parts.”

John Barber, Jamestown Area YMCA interim executive director, said the program has been a good one for the YMCA after watching how Cecchini and his volunteers interact with the children participating.

“Ben reached out earlier this winter and offered to come and do a special clinic for kids at the YMCA. He grew up in Jamestown and developed his own love for basketball at the Y. He clearly has taken that love for basketball and made it a platform to inspire children all over. The fact that he would take time to give back to the community he grew up in speaks to his character,” Barber said. “I got a chance to see his work in action this week. The kids not only got a chance to become better players, but they also grew socially and emotionally. Whether it was warmups, huddles or drills, I saw Given N’ Grow basketball weaving in both external skills and internal strength. I think every kid had the opportunity to grow as an athlete while feeling love and getting a chance to share love with one another.”

According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates for children ever having a diagnosis aged 3-17 years, are given below. ADHD 9.8% (6 million); a9.4% (5.8 million); behavior problems 8.9% (5.5 million) and depression 4.4% (2.7 million)

Among children aged 2-8 years, boys were more likely than girls to have a mental, behavioral or developmental disorder; Among children living below 100% of the federal poverty level, more than 1 in 5 (22%) had a mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder; Age and poverty level affected the likelihood of children receiving treatment for anxiety, depression, or behavior problems.

Furthermore, adverse childhood events (ACEs) are associated with kids aged 6-17 years old’s physical and mental health. Children who were discriminated against based on race or ethnicity had higher percentages of one or more physical health conditions (37.8% versus 27.1%), and one or more mental health conditions (28.9% versus 17.8%); Racial/ethnic discrimination was almost seven times as common among children with three other ACEs compared to those with no other ACEs.;

“These numbers are staggering,” said Cecchini. “That’s why I started GNG. That’s why we exist.”

For more information on the GNG program visit givengrowbasketball.org.