Bryan Mazzarello Bryan Mazzarello

Changing History To Changing Lives

After making his name running, McAfee using sport to give back
By Scott Fowler

"Forty years ago, Reggie McAfee ran the first mile in less than 4 minutes ever run by an African-American. Now McAfee runs a far different race. He tries to positively affect the lives of as many young people in the Charlotte area as he can through a non-profit foundation called “Cross-Country For Youth,” which he started in 2006."

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Bryan Mazzarello Bryan Mazzarello

USATF Foundation – Doing Good Things for Kids

Alix Shutello| Runner's Illustrated |May 15, 2011

Sub 4:00 Mile Record Holder, Reggie McAfee’s, Cross-Country for Youth has flourished

Reggie McAfee holds a lot more than a U.S. national record title as the first African American to break 4:00 minutes in the mile. He holds the future of youth sports in his hands. McAfee is one of many executive directors of athletic youth programs around the nation. His organization, Cross-Country for Youth (CCFY), is a Charlotte-based nonprofit that introduces middle schoolers to cross-country training and character-building concepts to develop the whole person.

McAfee launched the nonprofit in 2006 after leaving a 26-year career at Xerox, where he worked from 1980 to 2006, moving up the corporate ladder until he became the top Xerox salesman in the United States in 1999. When the company offered him early retirement, McAfee decided to give back so he went back to his roots as an athlete and launched CCFY later that year. The kids represent a broad demographic group, divided roughly evenly among whites, African Americans and Hispanics, including both at-risk kids and affluent kids.

“I thank God for providing me the opportunity and privilege to create a program that focuses on Cross-Country training and character development. What a winning combination,” he said.

McAfee attributes his success at Xerox to his perseverance as an athlete. During his career, many doubted his abilities, but he used his mental acuity, business acumen, and desire to achieve, to push him forward; skills developed from the process of setting goals, developing a plan, and executing on that plan—the very same process he used to become one of America’s most prolific track and field superstars with a national record to boot.

The USATF Gives Back

In the early stages, the CCFY operated on a slim annual budget of roughly $125,000 and with 60 to 70 volunteers. The organization made an impact using cross-country running as a tool to teach kids in elementary and middle school “to live healthy lives with character.

In 2007, the USA Track & Field Foundation presented a $1500 youth grant CCFY in support of its programs and in three short years, the program grew from 70 kids the first year to 205 in 2009. In the meanwhile, the USATF has given numerous grants to youth athletic programs around the nation.

About Reggie:

In high school, McAfee was Ohio state champion in cross-country two years straight and in the mile and half-mile. As a sophomore at Brevard College in North Carolina on a scholarship for cross-country and track, he was national junior college champion in cross-country and in the mile and two-mile.

But it was in 1973, after transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, that he made history and became the first African-American to break the four-minute mile barrier in 3:57.8. He broke the 4:00 barrier seven times total in his career.

About the USATF Foundation

The USATF Foundation was founded in 2002 as a means to attract and guide funds to new and innovative track and field programs, with an emphasis on providing opportunities for youth athletes, emerging athletes, distance training centers and anti-doping education. The Foundation depends upon donations from its Board of Directors and from generous fans of track and field. In April 2011, the USATF gave out 20 grants to national youth athletic foundations.

Chaired by NASDAQ CEO Bob Greifeld, the Foundation’s Board is composed of 25 individuals who share a love of track and field and a desire to provide substantial financial support to under-funded programs and individuals. Board members range from Olympic gold medalists to Fortune 500 executives and entertainment industry luminaries (http://usatffoundation.org/about/directors.asp).

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Bryan Mazzarello Bryan Mazzarello

Retired exec teaches kids to persevere

Todd Cohen | Philanthropy Journal | February 2, 2010

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The slogan "Attitude is everything" is inscribed on Reggie McAfee's business card.

McAfee should know: A child of public housing in Cincinnati, he became a star runner in high school in Ohio and college in North Carolina.

And despite initial doubts by some of his superiors at Xerox, he became the company's top salesman.

Now, he heads a Charlotte-based nonprofit that uses running as a tool for teaching kids to keep on keeping on.

 "If you're used to persevering and setting goals, and if you're committed, you can achieve any goal," says McAfee, chairman and executive director of Cross-Country for Youth. "Those skills transfer to everything in your life."

McAfee launched the nonprofit in 2006 after taking early retirement at Xerox.

Operating with an annual budget of roughly $125,000 and 60 to 70 volunteers, Cross-County for Youth uses cross-country running as a tool to teach kids in elementary and middle school "to live healthy lives with character."

The nonprofit teams with schools, offering a 10-week program each fall for roughly 16 kids per school, with each kid paying $125 to participate.

The kids attend a one-hour practice twice a week run by two volunteer coaches, with each practice following a 30-minute session on character, also led by volunteers.

In just three years, the program has grown from 70 kids the first year to 205 this school year.

And the kids represent a broad demographic group, divided roughly evenly among whites, African Americans and Hispanics, including both at-risk kids and affluent kids.

Scholarships are available, funded with money raised at an annual bowl-a-thon set for April 24 at AMF Carolina Lanes in Matthews.

McAfee aims to expand the model throughout North Carolina.

Rising to challenges is nothing new for him.

In high school, he was Ohio state champion in cross-country two years straight and in the mile and half-mile.

As a sophomore at Brevard College in North Carolina on a scholarship for cross-country and track, he was national junior college champion in cross-country and in the mile and two-mile.

And in 1973, after transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he was the first African-American to break the four-minute mile.

Then, after earning a master's degree in business administration at N.C. Central University in Durham, he went to work in 1980 in Charlotte for Xerox.

After working for several years in finance, he wanted to move to sales, but some of his bosses doubted his abilities.

"People would say, .You don't have enough experience,'" McAfee says.

So he became a technical analyst supporting the sales staff.

He worked his way up the job ladder at Xerox, and in each job exceeded his superior's doubts about his ability to succeed.

"Whatever obstacle or challenge they put forward, I met the challenge every time," he says.

He eventually sold the company's most sophisticated solutions, and, in 1999, was the top Xerox salesman in the U.S.

In 2006, when the company offered him early retirement, he figured it was a perfect time to pursue his dream of giving back by working with kids.

"I did not have a father figure," he says. "But there were so many people who stood in the gap to be that person. I always said, .If I have an opportunity to give back and improve the lives of others, I will.'"

This fall, McAfee hopes to expand the nonprofit's program within a 75-mile radius of Charlotte, and is looking for schools with volunteers who have good character and a passion to work with kids.

"This program is not about being great runners," McAfee says. "It's more about having kids be great people."

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