BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) - — The Candles in the S.U.N founder, Dakarai Singletary, established the organization to uplift and motivate inner-city kids.
Growing up with and seeing the continuous need from disadvantage communities made him push for his mission.
"As a kid, I was given the best of both worlds. I was able to live in the suburbs, but everything I did was inner-city sports-wise and seeing the difference in opportunities," Singletary says. "I saw the difference in abilities that I had, so I always wanted to provide opportunities to those who don't have them."
For that reason, his organization provides educational and community programs.
He hopes to expand his mission throughout the nation, which the initiative goes along with the name of the organization since it came from a movie.
"The candles fell over. I'm pretty sure it was Aladan where one candle falls over, and it starts to light the rest of the candles, and my idea of that is within a neighborhood," he says. "If I can pass my knowledge to you, you can pass it to someone else. We begin to light up the neighborhood."
Shining a light on an uneasy situation has always been the founder's mission.
That's why he continues to impact the youth and go beyond the educational and free food initiative by setting up a winter event at the Buffalo Harbor State Park.
"We want to give them the full feeling of going to a ski lodge or Holiday Valley," the founder says. "They get the hot chocolate, the chill, they get to hang out with friends and family. They get the full ride on the bus if they need it. There's free transportation provided as well."
Saturday, Jan. 8th, the winter event is 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Buffalo Harbor Park, 1111 Fuhrmann Blvd.
