Tre Boston Foundation honored by BOCC
The Board of Lee County Commissioners with representatives of the Tre Boston Beyond Belief Foundation, which is led by Boston and his mother, Iris de Hoyos.
CHUCK BALLARO
The Tre Boston Beyond Belief Foundation has helped kids stay away from drugs and other bad decisions, given motivational messages and holds free events with the Boys and Girls Clubs and other agencies through Boston’s fitness center.
On Tuesday, Aug. 16, at the start of the Board of Lee County Commissioners meeting in Fort Myers, the foundation, led by Tre Boston and Iris de Hoyos, his mother, was honored by Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass through a resolution recognizing its support to local youth in the area.
It will be just one of two major awards the foundation will receive during this month.
“It is a great honor. Tre has worked diligently to help the community through different programs with the foundation as well as on his own,” de Hoyos said. “We want to ensure there are no gaps. We want to provide prevention awareness, ensuring the kids use their education as a way to move forward in life.”
Among the many things Boston and de Hoyos do through the foundation is to show extraordinary support of Lee County’s Drug Free Kids, and attend the Drug House Odyssey Family Night to support this 30-year event and its underage drinking prevention message.
Boston also takes time to tape motivational messages during annual observances of Red Ribbon Week and Drug Facts Week, and through his D1 Training Center, supports healthy kids through free events to the Boys and Girls Clubs and other agencies serving Lee County’s most vulnerable population.
The Beyond Belief Foundation also supports Lee County families through holiday events, gift cards and a free football camp, its trademark event, which more than 350 kids attended in June.
“It’s about families. There are so many at-risk programs, from domestic violence to juvenile justice and detention centers. There are so many things we do,” de Hoyos said. “There’s the Fall Festival, Spring Festival where children have a safe environment. We want people to have that unity.”
The work of de Hoyos and Boston has resulted in this resolution, and both will receive the Hanley Foundation Prevention Superhero Award at the annual meeting of Drug Free Lee on Aug. 24 at the Cape Coral Police Department.
De Hoyos said the real superheroes are not her and her son, but rather the volunteers, parents and partners who make the difference.
“They are the ones who come out and help us and make this happen. We have a small board, but we are strong. To me, we embody the word of integrity and character. That’s what I love about everyone on our team,” de Hoyos said. “We could not do this without them and the community.”
Deb Camella, executive director of Drug Free Lee, said she was excited for the foundation, a major partner with her organization.
“A lot of people don’t know, but not only does Tre participate in Drug House Odyssey, he also tapes messages to our kids. Iris coordinates a number of community outreach programs because if our kids are hungry, we can’t even begin to talk about drug proofing them,” Camella said. “They help people any way they can and it was time to recognize them.”
Boston played high school football at North Fort Myers High School and at the University of North Carolina before playing in the NFL for seven seasons with three teams.
He started the Tre Boston Beyond Belief Foundation in 2017 as a way to help at-risk area youth and give back to the community, making de Hoyos the executive director.
For more about the foundation, visit https://www.trebostonbeyondbelieffoundation.org/.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com