'Their transportation got taken away': Nonprofit boxing club has car stolen

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – Just days after buying a car to help in his efforts to keep kids off the street, Frank Porter had his car stolen.

"A shock, just a pure shock. Like, am I dreaming or is this real?" Porter said.

Since taking over Ace Boxing Club, founded by his late father, Porter has been dedicated to helping at-risk youth in the community.

"To get them off the street and get them into boxing. Not to go out there and provoke fights or anything, but to teach them life lessons from the ring to the streets," he said. "It's better to sweat in our gym than to bleed in the streets."

The nonprofit, which has no paid employees, depends on donations.

"One of our great supporters is Forest County Potawatomi Foundation, but other than that, luckily, I came from a large family and learned how to budget money and how to buy things on clearance," Porter explained.

Because of limited funds, he was just recently able to buy a red 2010 Chevy Equinox, license plate AXM8595, for the club, but days later, the car was stolen.

"I was with him when he got it," Ace Boxing Club Coach Jason Ryan Janiszewski said. "So for how fast it got stolen, it really was a heartache because he worked years to be able to save up money to actually afford the vehicle."

The theft was a blow to the chest worse than any punch, and now the club needs help finding it so they can continue their mission of providing a knockout support system.

"So, all of a sudden you got kids that are training, now their transportation got taken away from them [because of] somebody stealing," Janiszewski said. "We want them to be able to compete. We want them to be able to have those opportunities. That got taken away."

While the hope is to recover the vehicle, Porter plans on creating a GoFundMe to purchase a new one if necessary. For more information on Ace Boxing Club, visit their website. To donate to the club, click here.