PINE HILLS, Fla. – There are people from all walks of life and all ages who are working to make a difference in Pine Hills.
Meet 14-year-old Clermond “Kevin” Pompilus.
Most afternoons, when most teens get out of school, they could be doing a lot of different things, but Pompilus goes to the Walt Disney World Boys and Girls Club in Pine Hills. That’s where he uses his passion for the arts and robotics to get results in the community.
“I actually mentor the kids in robotics, and I remember teaching them the positive and negative of the batteries, and also teaching them how to work in their workbooks. And it’s continued ever since,” Pompilus said.
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“It makes me feel proud and ecstatic to just watch Kevin grow up,” said Abigail McGlashing, the director of Viusal Arts at the Walt Disney World Boys and Girls Club. “To see how the club has shaped him, not just academically, not just socially, but also as an advocate.”
The now-freshman at Evans High School has been club member since he was six years old. Pompilus now focuses on two issues that he says go hand in hand: food insecurity and mental health.
Pompilus was part of a teen-led project called Food for Thought. The group of teens flew to Washington D.C. to meet with policy makers about food insecurity and is a part of the Club’s Mental Health Mythbusters program.
“What the Mental Health Mythbusters do is we host various events dismantling the misconceptions regarding mental health and we also provide education and resources to the community regarding mental health,” Pompilus said. “We provide coping strategies, we provide breathing techniques, we encourage them to journaling, and most importantly, we encourage them and we teach them how to find help.”
“Kevin stands out to me because he has a passion for helping people. He has an eye for the details,” McGlashing said. “The small things that normally individuals would look over, Kevin doesn’t look over. He stops. He pays attention and just his passion and drive toward helping others is one of the reasons why Kevin stands out to me.”
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