Tag: BoysGrow

Controlled Burn: BoysGrow sets the table for fire-infused meal sparked by farm’s teen entrepreneurs, KC chefs

By Tommy Felts / September 26, 2025

A live fire culinary event at the BoysGrow farm in south Kansas City is a dream come true for John Gordon, he shared, detailing plans for a fundraiser that harvests an immersive and unforgettable dining experience from the teen-focused ag entrepreneurship program. The one-night-only “Controlled Burn” heats up Oct. 5 at the 10-acre farm where…

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BoysGrow cultivates young leaders in South Kansas City through farming, purpose, entrepreneurship

By Tommy Felts / May 2, 2025

Editor’s note: The following story was written and first published by the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri (EDCKC). Click here to read the original story. At the heart of South Kansas City’s farmland, a quiet transformation is happening. For more than a decade, BoysGrow has been shaping not just crops — but futures. Founded in…

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BoysGrow

Manual entrepreneurship, refuge: ‘Farming is just the vehicle,’ says BoysGrow founder

By Tommy Felts / July 11, 2018

“What’s the word?” “Respect!” shouted the teenage farmhands at BoysGrow, a two-year program dedicated to teaching entrepreneurship to urban youth through agriculture and farming. The 10-acre BoysGrow farm outside Grandview plays host to 30 to 40 boys, ranging in age from 15 to 17. They work, eat and learn on the nonprofit farm three days…

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BoysGrow bootstrapping on-site culinary center for KC farm

By Tommy Felts / December 19, 2017

Budding youth entrepreneurs at BoysGrow need more room to cook their farm-to-table meals, John Gordon Jr. said. “The culinary program has really taken off,” said Gordon, founder of BoysGrow, a nonprofit that teaches inner-city boys entrepreneurial skills through farming. “We were wanting to grow that aspect of BoysGrow, but our farm has a small, residential…

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John Gordon Jr., BoysGrow

BoysGrow teaches urban youth entrepreneurship through farming

By Tommy Felts / September 15, 2017

BoysGrow, a mentoring program that teaches urban Kansas City boys entrepreneurship through hands-on agriculture, isn’t successful based on what the teens harvest, John Gordon Jr. said. It’s all about the soft skills they learn on the South Kansas City farm. “These boys are young,” said Gordon, founder of BoysGrow, noting the two-year program accepts students…

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