The Achievers, Black male Philly students of excellence, have captured hearts. Here’s why.

Mister Mann Frisby knew the Achievers were special.

But even he was surprised about the reaction he got after The Inquirer highlighted Frisby’s nonprofit, which honors young college-bound Black men for doing the right thing, supporting them with scholarships and practical advice for moving to the next step.

TV came calling. The Eagles invited the Acheivers to a practice. People offered internships, and checks. A retired teacher offered to buy train tickets for one young man who didn’t have funds to get back and forth to college.

» READ MORE: Meet this year’s class of Achievers, a group of exceptional young Black men honored for ‘doing the right thing’

Frisby, a writer and event planner, thinks he knows why the students captured people’s hearts.

“It’s the juxtaposition against 90% of what is reported every day,” Frisby said. “It’s a relief, a breath of fresh air. People say, look at these young men. So many told me, ‘Mister, I was bawling my eyes out — I didn’t even know them, and I’m so proud.’ It’s very emotional for people.”

Yed Jackson remembers the moment he was named an Achiever. It was a revelation for Jackson, a 2022 graduate of First Philadelphia Charter School, to be recognized just for being himself.

“I didn’t have to go out and do anything,” said Jackson, 19. “You just apply yourself, be the best you you can be, and someone comes and and says, ‘Thank you’ for that. It was like somebody saying, ‘I see you.’”

Jackson is about to start his second year at Robert Morris University in Allegheny County, where he’s a business major on the dean’s list. Having the Achievers behind him provides a lift, he said. And finding himself on the sidelines of his favorite football team’s practice earlier this month didn’t hurt, either.

“It’s something that we need a lot more of,” said Jackson. “I’m really blessed to have this opportunity.”

Jewell Gadson, a 2023 Martin Luther King High School graduate, agrees. Gadson spent much of his childhood in foster care, finishing high school living with the family of a friend while he worked as many hours as he could at McDonald’s.

And though he earned Achiever status and a place at Morgan State University, Gadson, 19, worried about how he would pay for books, afford room and board, get back and forth to Philadelphia on breaks. He wasn’t sure he would be able to make it work at college.

But Frisby offered advice, and an Inquirer reader Gadson never met offered to foot the bill for monthly train tickets.

“It just took a little pressure off my shoulders,” said Gadson, a nursing major. “People have been so supportive.”

He’s got new resolve, Gadson said. He knows people have his back.

“I’m taking the next step in my life, to begin a new dream,” said Gadson. “It felt like either now or never. I’m fulfilling a dream that I always wanted to accomplish; I came this far, I’m not giving up.”

The interest in the Achievers tells Frisby he’s on the right track. His goal is more support — more internships, more opportunities, more scholarships for things such as last-minute emergencies (bus tickets to campus for a student whose family car broke down, books for the student whose funds don’t stretch after the tuition bill is paid) and more.

Frisby has applied for a grant for more funding from the Eagles, and hopes more opportunities will come the students’ way.

“I tell them, ‘Speak up, don’t be ashamed, if you are short books, we will help,’” said Frisby. “People really see the value in this.”