A teen basketball team has gone months without a way to get to games and practices after their van went up in flames seven months ago.
The group, Young Men on a Mission, serves about 75 teens throughout the city providing mentorship, community sports, and scholars.
As the van was engulfed in flames, Dennis Gaynor woke up to a knock he'll never forget.
"We woke up to a knock at the door, sir your van is on fire. I went outside in disbelief. I thought it was a dream," said Dennis Gaynor, founder of the Young Men on a Mission organization.
Unfortunately, his worst nightmare was unfolding and he would then have to figure out how he would be able to provide transportation for teens looking for productive outlets and out of trouble.
"We had transportation for our basketball team. We also had travel for our work training program that was providing lawn services to our elderly, and also the mentoring piece," said Gaynor.
Teens like Dewayne Gaynor experienced firsthand how the van impacted their friends on their basketball team.
"Some of it was just like giving them something to do to stay out of trouble. We had a lot of memories in the van, hours spent talks, that's where the mentoring thing came from," said Dewayne.
Now as the van sits in the hands of insurance with no actual cause as to why this fire even occurred, this team of talented athletes and scholars with upcoming events are left in limbo.
"In our insurance policy, we didn't have that specify a fire inspector was supposed to come and it looked like the insurance company took the cheaper route or the shorter route by just giving us blue book value," said Gaynor.
However, he says insurance is unable to hardly provide the amount needed to purchase a new van.
"We're at a dead-end right now."
To help this team out in purchasing a new van visit their Go Fund Me page to donate.
