A North Hamilton business owner believes the community is in a state of crisis.

Speaking after the deaths of four people at a Pembroke home, over the weekend, entrepreneur Malachi Eversley said: “I see a lot of bad stuff happening. It hurts my heart. These are dangerous, dangerous times. The Black community should be in a state of emergency right now.”

He said there is a real need for support.

Determined to do something to help, even if indirectly, he has created The Flying High Entrepreneurship Programme.

“It is a free summer camp that teaches children budgeting, marketing and other skills needed to run a small business,” he said. “It will give them the skills to basically feed themselves, later on.”

He said a lot of young people have no idea what budgeting even is and are being exposed to negative influences every day.

A lack of financial literacy once threw his own life into turmoil. In 2006, at age 24, he was sentenced to eight years in jail for attempting to smuggle drugs into Britain. He told the court he agreed to carry the drugs to pay off a debt to a loan shark in Bermuda who was threatening him and his mother.

“I have been through so much,” Mr Eversley said. “My father was murdered when I was 19. I know what some children are going through. I was a product of my environment, but I have changed that. Our young people need positive role models. I wanted to do something to help the community, even if it was small.”

So far, six preteens are taking part in the programme.

“They are mostly relatives of ours,” he said. “My partner and I can probably take about ten children in total. After that we would need help.”

At least once a week, the campers sell Cup Match merchandise at different locations.

“We set up tables and interact with the customers,” Mr Eversley said.

Last Friday they sold items at Ice Queen in Paget.

“It was our first day and we probably sold about five T-shirts,” he said. “People also liked our Cup Match keychains. Even if we do not sell enough T-shirts or whatever, the experience of it is planting seeds in their minds.”

He loves to see the excitement when the children actually sell something.

Mr Eversley is in the process of turning Flying High into a charity.

“I have registered my charity and I am just waiting for the number,” he said.

He plans to use a portion of what is raised from the sales to help needy families with items such as school supplies and groceries.

As part of the programme, he brings campers into Street Vybze, a clothing store he and his partner, Demeka Tacklyn, manage, so they can see how business is conducted. He recently held a competition for the children, encouraging them to set up their most creative merchandise displays.

“This week we have been learning about sales pitches,” he said. “I have taught them that every product has its own pitch. You have to know which sales pitch suits the product best, and how to market it to your customers.”

Mr Eversley has also invited entrepreneurs, such as Everton Dawes, of Casual Footwear on Court Street, to speak to the children about running a business.

“He was telling the children how he started,” Mr Eversley said. “He told them how he decided to open a shop after struggling to find shoes for his own feet. They were all listening. It was very inspiring.”

He is looking for sponsors for the programme. So far, he has had support from business owners such as Lee White, of Ice Queen in Paget, who let the Flying High campers set up tables on his premises and provided them with lunch. Sean DeGraff, of Byrdie’s Cafe, is also sponsoring the campers’ lunch, one day a week.