Students from Strive TCU volunteer at H.O.P.E. Farm Inc. on a weekly basis. Students tutor, play and act as mentors to the boys of southwest Fort Worth.

H.O.P.E. Farm Inc. is a non-profit, Christian organization based in Fort Worth. The program provides the boys with structure, love and opportunities to become successful in their future lives, according to the Strive TCU Facebook page.

Amanda Tompkins, a senior communication studies major, said she got involved with Strive TCU through her group discussion class led by Carie Kapellusch.

“We go to H.O.P.E. Farm, and we tutor them Tuesday through Thursday, and they have a fun day on Friday,” Tompkins said. “We also fundraise to give H.O.P.E. Farm money so that they can send their boys to summer camp from college campuses to get in their head that this is something they can do.”

H.O.P.E. Farm is an after-school program that helped boys with single mothers and who were exposed to drugs and violence in their neighborhoods, Tompkins said. H.O.P.E. Farm helped them to escape their circumstances and provided positive role models for the boys.

Carie Kapellusch said she realized she wanted to help people in the community, and she found H.O.P.E. Farm. Soon, Strive TCU was created and became affiliated with the program, Tompkins said.

“I love working with the boys. It’s going up there, meeting them and hanging out with them,” Tompkins said. “That pulls on your heart strings. The fundraising aspect is also fun because I’m a huge planner, but mostly it’s knowing that I am helping these kids out, not only for the future, but right now.”

Taylor Foster, a sophomore communication studies major, volunteered at H.O.P.E. Farm for a week this semester where she got to work with a different boy each day.

“I love being able to see the results of some of the boys who have gone through the program,” Foster said. “One of the boys will be going to the University of Texas at Austin in the fall. That was reassuring to see what a difference we can make.”

Foster is also in Kapellusch’s group discussion course this spring. She said her group was selling T-shirts to fundraise for H.O.P.E. Farm.

Joe Askew, a senior finance major, said he helped put on a basketball tournament for the boys at H.O.P.E. Farm and helped raise funds for the organization.

“My favorite part of the program is that we are addressing a community need close to TCU’s campus that is truly for a meaningful cause,” Askew said.