Thrive Collective
Illustration by Mario Ruiz Photos & Reflection by Jeremy Del Rio The seeds that bloomed into Thrive Collective were planted in The Pile at Ground Zero on 9/11. My father Pastor Rick Del Rio’s 9/11 story and my own have been well reported. See this Tedx talk for a summary: thrivecollective.org/tedx. What’s less well known…
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Nine Murals Later A full view of the mural. Aptly named, Make Your Mark, the newest mural at P.S. 034 Franklin D. Roosevelt illustrates a community that empowers its students to follow their dreams. Thrive Collective’s flagship mural location, P.S. 034, was the first school to participate in a mural project way back in 2007,…
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Thrive Sports hosted its 24th annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament on July 13th in the Lower East Side. (Read the backstory here.) Since 1994, we’ve been nurturing champions through basketball. Here’s how we do it. First, the community commits to a day. In the Lower East Side, our flagship tournament features the ministry that birthed us,…
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This weekend, New York City bid farewell (for now) to a Thrive Collective original, as Kekoa returned to Oakland after a nearly two decade run in the Big Apple. Even as he brings Thrive Collective with him to the Bay, he leaves his mark in scores of schools and communities throughout our great City. As…
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Our very own Kekoa will be featured at an upcoming artist gathering at The Clemente Cultural Center in the Lower East Side on 10/25 at 6:30pm. Hosted by Nelle Escalante, artist in residence at Abounding Grace Ministries, the event explores the intersection of art, faith, and social justice. Kekoa will share his story, and showcase…
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You might wonder how Thrive Sports has been organizing 3-on-3 basketball tournaments for 24 years, when it only launched officially last month. Here’s how. Collage from past AGM/Xcel tournaments. Jeremy produced his first basketball tournament in 1994 for Abounding Grace Ministries, and they’ve continued the Lower East Side tradition ever since. Accounting for one unfortunate…
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New York City’s new PSA promoting the need for more high school mentors features two of Thrive’s pioneering School Mentors: Jonathan Del Rio (Thrive Collective’s original muse and PS/MS 34 math teacher) and Frederick Castleberry (GQ darling and Harlem Village Academies HS trailblazer). We love sharing our heroes with the rest of the City! HS…
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Life consists of little things, consistently experienced over time. Eleven years ago, a neighborhood church started the movement that became Thrive Collective by sponsoring a year-end BBQ for the students and staff of PS/MS 34 in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. No one expected murals, music, mentoring, and more to ensue as a result of those…
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We are excited to Celebrate the Future with Abounding Grace Ministries this weekend as they commemorate their 25th year as a church and 35th year as a community ministry. Everything Thrive Collective is, every student and school we have served, is because of Abounding Grace Ministries’ investment in Jeremy Del Rio personally and their commitment…
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Shout out to all the incredible dads fathering their children well, and to all the uncles, grandfathers, brothers, cousins, neighbors, godfathers, mentors, coaches, teachers, clergy, youth workers, volunteers, single mothers, and all the rest who step up when dads are absent. Happy Fathers Day! This photo is of Jeremy Del Rio’s father Pastor Rick Del…
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