St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman is on a mission to save young lives.
Kriseman wants to find a way to end the murders of young black men in his city and he's promising a million dollars to do it.
The first Sunday best dinner in south St. Pete, came with a promise from the mayor.
“One million dollars to chart a course toward solutions that will make a difference for our community's young black men,” said Mayor Kriseman.
It's in response to the recent deadly violence that's claimed the lives of more than a half dozen young black males in town. Mayor Kriseman hopes the task force he'll form and charge with the million dollars will be able to address what's at the core of the violence.
“It's about providing services, providing training, creating jobs, but mentoring the people through the whole process. 00:42 so that if there're times that they fall back a bit, there's someone there to catch them,” said Kriseman.
For South St. Pete activists like Lewis Stephens, it's a proposal that holds a lot of promise.
“I mean it's something that we definitely need here in the south side area. And I'm actually excited about what's taking place. I'm excited about it,” said Stephens.