UPDATE: LANSING - Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. For the underprivileged youth of the Lansing area, their hero weighs in at 205 pounds and runs the Crown Boxing Club. Coach Ali Easley gives kids who never have had a true role model, someone to look up to.

He founded a non-profit organization called the Help A Willing Kid Foundation in 1994 as a way to give back to the community. He explained, “I knew whenever I was a young kid how much it meant to me to be able to go to a gym and talk to my coaches about issues that maybe I couldn’t talk to my parents about.”

Easley moved to the Lansing area in the 1980s for a teaching job at Lansing Community College. During his time there, a boxing manager recruited and signed him as a fighter. Easley affiliated himself with this man until he could open his own gym in 1991, the Crown Boxing Club. In his gym, he set up an atmosphere for success.

The Help A Willing Kid foundation is set up so that youth in the Lansing area have a place to go after school. On a typical day, Easley works with about 25-30 students, teaching them boxing techniques and conditioning. Whenever they step into the gym, they can forget about outside distractions, including problems at home or school. It allows them to be part of a unique team that has something for everyone.

The Help A Willing Kid Foundation teaches not only boxing techniques but also provides a support system. The youngsters are given clothing, used school supplies, hot meals, and are sometimes sent home with canned foods. The organization can exist because of grants, in-house fundraising, and a class through Michigan State University, KIN 103V- Boxing Conditioning.

ORIGINAL STORY: LANSING - Everyday the underprivileged youth in Lansing get a second chance from Crown Boxing Club's HAWK foundation. Watch All Access for more information.