A Family of Servant Leaders: The Legacy of City Kids Adventures.

Photo by City Kids Adventures Picture Left to Right - Lee Charles, Leticia, and Leon

A Family of Servant Leaders: The Legacy of City Kids Adventures.

City Kids Adventures (CKA) is a living organism that personifies Servant Leadership. The McNeil family of Devine, TX has a gem of an organization transcending the education world in the Greater San Antonio area since 1994. The founders, Leon McNeil and Leticia McNeil are responsible for cultivating the inner-city youth with an ideology of Servant Leadership and love for humanity. Beware, this program is not for everyone; sacrifices are required to enjoy the adventures of CKA.

Humanity as the “why?”

According to the Google definition, humanity is defined as, “the human race; human beings collectively.” There is also mention of humaneness and benevolence, which is the inclination to be kind. This is what the inner-city youth going through the CKA program are pragmatist at. Technology is a big factor as to why it serves humanity well to get back to the basics.

“We need to sit down and communicate with one-another,” states Leon. “Socially we are connected, but we’ve never been so disconnected from humanity.”

The power-surge of social media is quite the conundrum; you relate to your peers but the physical presence and connection with a peer is slowly dissipating. COVID-19 has intensified the disconnect to humanity. CKA is a counterculture program that remains entrenched in the mastery of interpersonal communication.

Servant Leadership stewards:

Servant Leadership is made popular by late author Robert Greenleaf and described as leadership championed through the power of service. The organic process of servitude and leading in CKA is a “revolving door” according to Leticia. When a child first enters the program, they get to enjoy the adventures with a whole-hearted kid approach. As the child gets older, the responsibility of mentorship becomes an agent for leadership as each adolescent participating in the program is now charged with serving the younger children. The older participants become culture agents as they now teach the activities to younger CKA generation.

With CKA, there is a perfect representation of Servant Leadership with 20-year-old Lee Charles McNeil, son of Leon and Leticia. Born into the program, Lee Charles shares that the “group dynamic and essence-effort allowed for this program to flourish.” The team atmosphere is elevated beyond just proximity, you eat, sleep, work, and celebrate together like a family would. This is what transcends CKA beyond normal sports or teams.

Lee Charles started as a student of the system like all participants. Except, Lee Charles was never afforded the opportunity to choose. There was no going home because CKA was home. The sacrifices of Lee Charles were essential for the McNeil’s to be at peace and have a sense of fulfillment to their purpose. Lee Charles admits it was hard to learn how to share his belongings and especially his parents to the cause. Once he learned, it became apparent that he was the best educator of the group because he was the bridge of student and teacher that embodied the ideology that no other adult in CKA had. His perspective and experience are invaluable and certainly reflect the mission. While Lee Charles continues his formal education journey, he will also continue to provide service as a lead guide in the CKA efforts.

The Hook, the Great Outdoors:

The novelty of the outdoors was the perfect hook to entice students; it was for Leon when attending Abilene Christian University. Ms. Addy and Uncle Dick were the local folks that cultivated the passion for the outdoors.

“I would take the camping class every semester from my sophomore year and on and became like a student assistant,” shares Leon.

As a reward for Leon’s efforts, Uncle Dick gifted Leon a English Pointer “bird dog” named Peaches that continued to nurture the love affair for the outdoors.

As you fast-forward to present day, CKA has just under 200 outdoor adventures that the inner-city youth of San Antonio have embarked on. The Annual Camp Hawkeye trip conducted on Memorial Day weekend is the culmination of a busy year that involves ATV riding, Archery, Bird-dog Training, Hog Hunting, Deer Hunting, Fishing and Kayaking among other events.

The origin of CKA starts with Camp Hawkeye, a 1994 camping trip to Guadalupe State Park for a group of inner-city students at Cooper Middle School. It started with an agreement; any athlete that maintained an “80 GPA and participated in a minimum of three sports” were invited to Camp Hawkeye reflects Leon. Like most initiatives that involve risk, it was an unpopular endeavor from the school community to support. But year after year, Camp Hawkeye has only been slowed by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Camp Hawkeye is a legacy and a lineage that has served as a right-of-passage to generations of students. In fact, Leticia shares that “it has come full-circle,” where now the students being served have parents that are CKA alumnus.

The outdoors has many lessons that educate its constituents. The novelty of learning about hobbies or processes that normally would have not been introduced to the youth is a life-changing experience. However, the education of the outdoors, the emphasis of interpersonal communication, and the practice of Servant Leadership has powerful side-effects to this program; you become a confident, resilient, and a caring person.

Adventures Extreme:

One of the benefits for being a culture agent in CKA sparks some of the biggest lifechanging adventures. When you analyze the organizational hierarchy of CKA, you start to notice that the kids with longevity become “rock-star” Servant Leaders. The success of the CKA mission and vision hinges on the efforts of these CKA veterans. As a result, this is the group that reaps the rewards of the elevated adventures that are in the CKA books. Trips to the Bahamas, Alaska, national college visits, and Telluride, NM , are some examples of the epic adventures.

Converting into a non-profit 501c3 organization has helped the organization tremendously with creative control and the gathering of resources and sponsors. In this family affair, the McNeil’s are fulfilled with a purpose of doing their part to ensure their extended family become productive citizens. The 26 years of serving the inner-city of San Antonio has expanded tremendously. New faces are now representing multiple areas of San Antonio.

“Our program isn’t for everyone as it takes many sacrifices,” states Leon.

Commitment and the ability to adhere to the safeguarding policies are always going to be encouraged. The McNeil’s are grounded in serving humanity. The main sacrifice to be a part of this premier educational experience is to learn to lead by serving others.

Spring Family Camp

It is a rainy Saturday, and the event is the Spring Family Camp. This event is to invite the immediate family members of each participate to camp with them at the Alamo Resort and Dance Hall in Mason, TX. Even though the torrential rain halted many of the scheduled activities, the evening dinner provided some perspective for all. The smile on the kids' faces and the sharing of experiences from elementary kid to season veteran of CKA reveal that every kid involved with this program is rich, rich in relationships, rich in experiences, and most importantly, rich in the education of Servant Leadership.

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