Bulldog Gym coach in search of angel investors

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Zeke Lopez, who has been training young boxers at no cost for the last 33 years at his Bulldog Gym in Hollister, has taken advantage of a vacancy in an adjoining building to launch a new youth center. Renovations to the building, previously occupied by the Animation Dance Community, are underway, and areas are marked out for kung fu and breakdancing instruction as well as computer classes, tutoring and family-oriented games.

Lopez began the project with donated labor and grant money received from the Community Foundation for San Benito County earlier this year. He then went looking for nine donors willing to make an annual pledge of $2,500 to complete his funding. He currently has six and needs three more.

“I have always wanted to have a youth center,” Lopez said. “The building here just happened to fall into place for us. The management company said, ‘Hey, the building’s empty. We want to give you guys a chance to take it, if you’d like.’”

Lopez said that friends and the parents of his boxing students were initially concerned that he was overextending himself. He told them that this was one of his dreams, and he could not afford to let it go by.

“I was thinking about it before I went to bed,” Lopez said. And when I woke up, the song ‘Wake Up, Everybody’ by Harold Melvin was playing. If you hear the song, it says we all have to get together and help our community, our country, and ourselves. I thought, ‘That’s it.’”

Using the song’s title, Lopez named his future youth center “Wake Up Everybody” and began the search for funding.

“I went to certain people in the community who might be able to help,” he said. “I’ve had them come over here, and I’d say, ‘What do you think?’ If I can get my nine $2,500 donors, that will cover the rent, and I believe everything else will fall into place.”

As with Bulldog Gym, Lopez does not plan to charge local youths for using the center, though members over 18 would pay a nominal $50 a month.

“That would cover the rest of what we need,” Lopez said. “If we need to pay for water or supplies or anything else, we can have car washes out here. We can have recitals. We can do different things that make a little money.”

Brent Redmond, the retired founder of Redmond Transportation and longtime supporter of Bulldog Boxing, signed up as one of the center’s annual donors. 

“Zeke has just a tremendous track record with youth,” Redmond said. “The way I look at it is there’s a real bang for our buck. When we donate a dollar, we know at least 99 cents goes directly to supporting youths in the community.”

Redmond said his earliest memory of Lopez was from years ago when someone broke into the gym and stole a considerable amount of equipment. 

” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1″ src=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1″ alt=”Interior of the planned Wake Up Everybody Youth Center. Photo by Robert Eliason.” class=”wp-image-109516″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=1568%2C1176&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Photo-Sep-13-2024-5-31-31-PM-1024×768.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px”>

“He reached out to us then, and he’s reached out since,” Redmond said. “But it is always just for what he needs, never more than that. I’ve told him his needs were always bigger than his ask, and he always says, ‘No, this is what I need.’”

Hollister pathologist Dr. Michael McGinnes first met Lopez two years ago during Bulldog Gym’s relocation and has agreed to be an annual donor. He described Lopez as a committed individual who cares about “all of the children top to bottom.”

“For me,” McGinnes said, “this is a way to be hands-on in helping the community. It will be a place where the kids can go and know they will be safe. I know that if anyone in the community is interested in assisting local kids, this is a really good place to start.”

Bulldog Boxing holds its Time To Shine Tournament on Sept. 21, starting at 11 a.m., at 731 San Felipe Road in Hollister. Potential donors to the Wake Up Everybody Youth Center may contact Zeke Lopez at 831-756-0182.

Time To Shine Tournament. Courtesy of Bulldog Boxing.

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