For several hours a week, a Brooklyn gym donates its facilities and resources to neighborhood kids. Brooklyn Reporter Jeanine Ramirez has the story.

Six-year-old Jason Sosa comes to Sweatbox Brooklyn in Sunset Park once a week to learn some skills with other kids.

"They can learn how to defend themselves from bullies and people trying to bother them," Sosa said in the gym.

It's a two-hour afterschool program Thursdays organized by the non-profit organization Youth Fighting Forward.

The group's founder, Frank Galarza, and the gym's owner, Argenis Arce, teamed up to offer the program to kids here for free.

"Pretty much they just show up," Arce said. "We supply everything — all the wraps, all the gloves, all the training. I cover all the expenses for the trainers."

"I fund it out of my own pocket and we've received small donations," Galarza said. "We're a 501(c)(3), everything is certified."

Arce and Galarza became friends at a neighborhood Police Athletic League (PAL) boxing program when they were kids.

"We had a PAL here in Sunset Park. It was shut down, and that's where I began, and I felt like the neighborhood needed something like this," Arce said. "It needed something for the kids, it needed something for the people."

"I knew what boxing has done for me, so I figured maybe we can offer the same program," Galarza said.

Some kids have taken it to the next level like 13-year-old Manny Torres, who fought in a tournament last summer and won.

"They make sure that I train and I get ready for that fight. So they motivate me," Torres said.

But most kids say they're here for other benefits. "The trainers are really nice, and it's good for your health, and it's really fun," said Avery Alvarez, a member of Sweatbox Brooklyn.

"I have a lot of stress at school because I've been testing a lot lately, and coming here helps me unwind," said James Sosa, another member.

"Exercise because I don't really exercise," member Naomi Sirena said. "So now that I'm here, I have lots of fun."

The kids' program has been such a success that Sweatbox Brooklyn hopes to expand it.