
Faith-based Gainesville non-profit Made for More is celebrating “The Power of One” and five years of impact at its Third Annual Fundraising Gala on Sunday, Feb. 2.
Made for More pairs volunteer mentors with middle school, high school and collegiate student-athletes for one year of faith-based mentorship involving hands-on experiences. The personal relationships aim to empower the students in their academics, future careers, personal goals and faith.
The gala fundraiser, which starts at 6:30 p.m. at the UF Hilton Conference Center (1714 SW 34th St., Gainesville) will feature a three-course meal, live entertainment, auction, program testimonies and remarks from former NFL tight-end and SEC studio analyst Benjamin Watson. The “Power of One” theme aims to highlight the ripple effect of hope and change one life can have on transforming others, which Made for More strives to create.
“We want to inspire kids to pursue more, to reach for more, and we believe that starts with understanding who you are, your identity,” said Joel Romelus, Made for More’s founder and executive director.
“There’s no greater identity than knowing that you’re a beloved child of God, that He loves you, that He’s with you in your highs and your lows when you just blew it or when you just scored the winning touchdown,” Romelus said. “We try to bring about inspiring figures from our community, men who exemplify the things that we want our young men to aspire after.”
Romelus founded Made for More in 2020 with a “burning passion” to cultivate a world where student-athletes know their worth, live with purpose and invest back in their communities. He designed the program using the very same seeds of hope and faith that were once sown in him.
After his parents divorced when he was in middle school, Romelus said football became his safe space. Seeing his mom work multiple jobs to make ends meet made him strive even harder towards a football scholarship that could financially provide. But Romelus’s football dreams came crashing down after a devastating concussion.
“I experienced a career-ending injury which really shattered me,” he said. “It shattered my identity. It shattered me emotionally, and I just didn’t know who I was. It was at that critical moment I came across my mentor.”
A middle school teacher intentionally sought out Romelus and journeyed with him through the injury. Romelus said he taught him that there was more to his identity than how fast he could run or how high he could jump, and that he had gifts inside him the world needed.
The transformative season with his mentor drove Romelus deeper into placing his faith and identity in Jesus Christ and ignited his desire to serve others through ministry. After graduating from college, Romelus became the UF football chaplain where he still works today.
Romelus said witnessing the ongoing psychological, emotional and physical trauma young people faced during the pandemic in 2020 made him decide it was time to turn his dreams of mentoring others into reality by starting Made for More. The name came from a sermon he preached to the UF football team.
“One chapel I was just kind of praying and Made for More was the title of the sermon,” he said. “The guys really resonated with the message…it’s a lifelong message for me that you’re created in the image of God, and he has made you for more. And my life mission is to help pull that out of people.”
Made for More partners with local schools such as Lincoln Middle School, Fort Clarke Middle School and Eastside High School to recruit students identified by principals and counselors as those who might benefit from having a positive influence in their lives.
The program collaborates with the student and their parents about what positive outcomes they’d like to see from the student, and to gauge what their interests are in order to pair them with the right mentor.
Romelus said anyone who is a loving, caring adult who wants to invest in kids and see them thrive can apply to be a mentor. Once an application is submitted online, the mentor is required to pass a Level 2 background check, fill out references, interview and undergo training on youth mentorship, connection, mental health and first aid.
The student and mentor are then matched based on similar interests and arrange times to meet at least twice a month, if not weekly, to bond through shared activities. Romelus said these activities have been anything from going to work together to eating burgers from Mac’s Drive-Thru.
“One mentor is a firefighter and he [brought his mentee] to his firefighter headquarters, and he’s pulling ropes, or they’re running stadiums,” he said. “Mentors, mentees, they’re going to church, they’re having ice cream, they’re playing basketball, they’re connecting with them in a meaningful way.”
Romelus said even the littlest investment can go a long way. One mentee named Ezekiel came to him one Christmas wanting to eat dinner with and be embraced by his father who wasn’t in his life. Romelus said he and Ezekiel wept together because they couldn’t change the past. But then he got to watch Ezekiel shine after he connected with his Made for More mentor.
“When August came around for school shopping [his mentor] said, ‘Hey, you come with me and whatever you need to get I’m going to take care of you,’” Romelus said. “‘I can’t be your father, but I want you to know that if I’m around if I’m in your life, you’re not going to lack anything.’ Just that small gesture, that’s going to change a kid’s life forever.”
Romelus said Made for More’s programming is built on four pillars of inspiration, empowerment, mentorship and service.
Along with fostering one-on-one connections, the organization hosts life skills workshops where students can learn about etiquette, communication and hygiene. Local businesses such as Campus USA provide financial workshops, and the students take trips to universities where they’re exposed to different industries, fields and occupations.
Of the four pillars, Romelus said service is the heartbeat of Made for More’s vision. Once a year, the mentees are given funding to plan a community outreach event spearheaded by the upperclassmen. Made for More partners with local organizations such as GRACE Marketplace and Bread of the Mighty where the students can serve and recognize that they have something to give to their communities.
“We believe that these young men are going to be presidents, lawyers, mayors, Fortune 500 company leaders and CEOs,” he said. “We never want them to forget that there were people along their journey who poured into them, so that when they get to whatever heights, they’ll turn back around and serve others.”
He said Made for More’s biggest challenge right now is finding enough mentors to meet the demands of students. Only around 30 of the program’s 88 students currently have mentors.
Romelus said that although research shows consistently meeting one-on-one with a caring adult has the greatest impact on shifting a child’s trajectory and beliefs on who they are and what they can achieve, Made for More also offers group mentorship to make sure as many students are able to benefit from the program as possible.
Weekly lunch sessions hosted at partner schools offer inspirational talks based on the four pillars, and monthly Hoops and Dreams basketball tournaments bring the middle and high schoolers together. Through a partnership with Florida Victorious, UF athletes often visit to share their stories and talk about issues like gun violence that matter to the students.
While Made for More was founded serving male mentees through male mentors, the organization launched a pilot program for girls this month. Six students have already been approved and are awaiting female mentors.
Made for More also operates the Beyond the Game athletic outreach program providing college athletes with discipleship mentorship, group gatherings and mission trips. Romelus said in turn, the college athletes often pour back into the Made for More youth.
“They know what it’s like to be an athlete, to have that as your identity, to also try to juggle their faith,” he said.
A 2023 logic model survey reported that 60% of Made for More students experienced a positive change in their grades and personal relationships after mentorship. As many as 70% increased their understanding of the gospel and 85% gained a positive view of themselves, understanding of manhood and career opportunities.
Made for More’s funding comes primarily from donations, the Children’s Trust of Alachua County, local churches and businesses, and the annual gala. Romelus said his main goal right now is to continue building his young non-profit’s infrastructure so that it can expand into more local schools and one day other cities.
For now, Romelus said he continues defining and refining his work motivated by the hope that God is able to do far abundantly beyond all anyone can ask or imagine. With the right environment, he said no one’s God-given potential is limited.
“What we can do is surround these young people and be a kind of environment, an enclave where we speak life and love and tell them you have hope and you have potential,” he said. “We keep affirming them and we show up for them no matter what. Eventually, they’ll buy in. Eventually, they’ll believe, and from there, I think they’ll be able to achieve what God has put them on Earth to do.”
Applications to become a Made for More mentor can be submitted here. Tickets to Made for More’s Annual Fundraising Gala can be purchased here.