Contributed VOLUNTEERING TO LEAD YOUTH — Dawud Abdullah-Hampton has returned home to Steubenville and will once again begin a nonprofit group for local youth called WE CARE. Assisting Abdullah-Hampton will be offering instruction along with his nieces, Nita and Nina Johnson.

STEUBENVILLE — When it comes to giving back to the community, you will be hard-pressed to find anyone who cares more deeply than Dawud Abdullah-Hampton.

In fact, throughout the decades, he has helped organize various community-oriented nonprofits, including Basic Circle.

These close-knit groups have not only helped to better the city, they have helped to better the lives of young people … and that has been his mission, his purpose, all along.

Now that he has returned home to Steubenville after leaving the area for a time, Abdullah-Hampton says it is time once again to get busy helping others.

The program’s acronym is WE CARE. Those words exemplify exactly why this organization is being formed — simply put, because he cares.

WE CARE stands for Working Endlessly, Creating Avenues Responsible for Elevation.

The program’s main goal is to involve as many area youths between the ages of 4 and 18 as possible, and to work with them on traveling along a positive pathway they may be interested in taking.

Whether they are boys or girls, young men or young women, Black or white, the only question asked is, “What do you enjoy doing — dancing, singing, playing an instrument or acting?

WE CARE wants to place those avenues before these youth and afford them the opportunity to be a part of an art form.

Once these avenues have been put into place, Abdullah-Hampton hopes to then elevate the passion they possess and show them where those talents can actually take them in life.

“We are trying to put a path before our youth that they want to get into,” he explained.

The first step in the WE CARE program is to form a dance troupe. The troupe will consist of many different levels — some of which include a drill team, a parade marching team, a hip-hop traveling team, a line-dance squad, duo and trio squads and solo acts.

“WE CARE is for all shapes, all sizes and all colors,” Abdullah-Hampton said. “If you can dance, we ask you to join this squad.”

Of course, not all young people are skilled in the art of dancing.

That is why WE CARE will offer additional paths these youth can go down, including in the area of drama.

Those wanting to focus on acting will soon have that opportunity, as Abdullah-Hampton foresees a combination of music and drama being an interesting and popular choice to use in a production.

He explained dancers would begin the play, followed by actors performing the dramatic portion of the show and then more dancing would conclude the program.

He also hopes to include a marching drumline drill team, which he refers to as the “bucket boys,” who will play on buckets to build different sounds.

These sounds, when coming together, “will form magic,” Abdullah-Hampton continued.

Singers would also be involved in the drama and dance performance, he added, saying, to “Watch for that magic, too.”

While he has helped form many organizations throughout his lifetime, Abdullah-Hampton stated he wants to get more in-depth with WE CARE, allowing the area’s children to have an array of avenues they can go down to succeed.

While anyone between the ages of 4 and 18 can take part in WE CARE, anyone can assist in volunteering to instruct the children during the sessions.

“Anyone who has the qualifications to add to this evolution is welcome to join us,” Abdullah-Hampton said.

The next three sessions are scheduled to take place from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays at the War Memorial Building, located at 423 North St. in Steubenville, next to the fire station. The next session will be Oct. 11, with all welcome to attend and discover what WE CARE is all about.

Since returning home, Abdullah-Hampton said he wants to start a movement in the area, a movement he calls Unk Woo. He explained when he was 10, he taught himself to dance, never wasting that talent and using it throughout his life.

His gift took him from place to place, including Atlantic City, where he was seen breakdancing on the boardwalk and asked to enter a talent contest, which he won and from there, went on to perform in the Golden Nugget Casino.

“The highlight of my life was getting paid to do what I love,” Abdullah-Hampton recalled.

He wants that same dream for others, which is why this movement is so important to him.

It would allow for children to see the various avenues that are out there. It would afford them the chance to learn to win with optimism. It would instill in them to never to waste the talents they were given … and to use them wisely.

Yes, there is more to life than what lies within the Ohio Valley.

And, Abdullah-Hampton believes that every child should have the opportunity of one day seeing that world which is waiting for each and every one of them.