TAMPA, Fla. — A nonprofit started by a former athlete as a mentoring organization using sports and incentive-based activities for youth is expanding.

What You Need To Know

The organization G3 Life Applications mostly serves young people who live in some of the city’s high crime areas

Ronnie McCullough, a former athlete turned CEO, said it’s by design that his nonprofit is providing services for young people in this community that the Department of Juvenile Justice says has the highest volume of crime for youth in the county

The goal is to expose the youth they serve to farming, gardening, and of course, sports

The organization G3 Life Applications mostly serves young people who live in some of the city’s high crime areas.

The group is widening its reach with a new 70-acre project that is projected to impact thousands.

The Skills Center in Tampa is its home.

“It’s twofold. Not only do they get the G3 program and services, but they also get access to The Skills Center and some of the amenities they have here,” said G3 Life Applications CEO Ronnie McCullough. “The Skills Center formed a collaborative. It took five organizations that came under one roof to share resources to ensure we provide the appropriate services for our community.”

McCullough, a former athlete turned CEO, said it’s by design that his nonprofit is providing services for young people in this community that the Department of Juvenile Justice says has the highest volume of crime for youth in the county.

“Coming to East Tampa, we chose Middleton High School to start working with their students and athletes there, because we felt that was the area with the most need at that moment. And I think it’s probably today one of the same, most needed areas,” McCullough said.

Malik Davis, 15, has been a part of G3 programs for the past eight years.

“It’s a very positive and outreaching program to where all kids, no matter what color you are, no matter what your background is, you are welcomed and you will be helped, no matter what,” Davis said. “Even if you don’t want to be helped, you will be helped.”

For McCullough, the sounds of nature are about the only thing that compares to hearing about success stories like Davis. It’s also the motivation for McCullough to expand G3 to a 70-acre property out in east Hillsborough County.

“So right now, we’re at Miracles Outreach the Acres of Hope,” McCullough said. “We partnered with Miracle’s Outreach in an effort to help expand the vision here. They were using this location to support foster youth. So, we’re just going to expand that vision and not only support foster youth, but do intervention, prevention and diverging services.”

The property already has some existing structures. McCullough said they had 3D renderings created to show the estimated $40 million plan. McCullogh is raising money to develop the land even more.

“We’re starting now,” he said. “We’re already looking and cultivating the land. We’re already doing soil testing. We’re identifying the locations where we’re going to start breaking ground.”

Their goal is to expose the youth they serve to farming, gardening and of course sports.

There’s a pond for fishing, and they’re also planning to offer equine therapy.

“It’ll be almost a one-stop shop, so they don’t have to leave here. They can sleep, play, get educated and grow,” he said.

It’s a plan he said he could’ve never imagined when he started this with his dad 13 years ago, but he’s doing it while living up to the meaning of their name G3, which means, “Giving God the glory.”