How a Comedian’s Promise to Save Youth Through Comedy Led to One of the Largest Mentoring Initiatives in America
A Gwinnett County story about an American problem.
His motto then is his motto now:
“Before you kick them out, let us help them out.”
“There are people in this life who can make a difference. There are some who you are surprised to see make a difference. A lot of times, it’s not the churches, the schools, the politics, or the government. Sometimes, it’s just a person who has the heart to change and the spirit to make a difference. In this case, we want to recognize that person with this award, and that person is Larry Veal.”
[This letter was hand-delivered to Larry by Rev. Stewart's wife, Jujuan, over ten years after his death.]
In Message to Mission, comedian Larry D. Veal tells how one school assembly became a mentoring movement that changed thousands of young lives — and sets the record straight on who built it.
It didn’t start in a boardroom. It started with the counselors — the ladies at the beginning — who saw a need in their school and encouraged him to do something about it. He came in with comedy. A school assembly. Then that assembly became a focus group. The focus group became weekly mentoring. And the weekly mentoring became a department in the school system that is still there today.
This new edition carries the receipts: the closing chapter that tells how the community-based mentoring program was created, the original memorandum of understanding, the district’s own executive summaries, and letters from the students themselves.
His motto then is his motto now: “Before you kick them out, let us help them out.”
Alex Haley wrote other books. But the world knows him for one: Roots. That was his book — the one that carried his name and his story to everybody.
Message to Mission is mine.
Roots introduced us to the past. Message to Mission can introduce us to a brighter future.
Roots looked back — at where we came from, and what it cost to get here. This book looks forward — at where our children can go, if the adults around them decide to help instead of punish. It tells how a mentoring program was built in Gwinnett County, Georgia — one of the largest school systems in America — out of assemblies, small groups, and one man’s promise to save youth through comedy.
Every author has the one book that says who he is. This is that book for me.
— Larry D. Veal
It started with a mother’s passion — a mother wanting her child to live. She had lost one child, and she caught on to Mr. Veal to help inspire — and he used comedy to do it.
Now imagine it somewhere else.
Imagine other school systems creating community-based mentoring programs of their own. Imagine the I Have Willpower curriculum in their classrooms — teaching young people to stop, think, and choose. Imagine what it does to a school when the students everybody had given up on start passing, start graduating, start staying out of the system.
In Gwinnett County, the work reached thousands of students. In the New Directions diversion program, under the District Attorney’s office, Coop’s cohorts saw over 90% of their young people succeed — no new charges, diplomas in hand.
Coop’s account, as he states it — presented here as his account.
From the book’s closing chapter:
“I created it so it could be franchised — carried into school systems all across this country, and maybe beyond — for hurting kids and hurting families who need inspiration, humor, and encouragement.”
“This book was never a message to mission for Gwinnett. It’s a message to mission for the world.”
Wouldn’t it be great? One school system proved it can be done. The book shows how. The next system just has to pick it up.
Imagine a country full of young Achievers.
Don’t take his word for it. Take theirs.
Three Gwinnett County school counselors — Toi Beavers — 2007, eighth-grade counselor at Shiloh Middle School; Dana Booker — 2007, counselor at Lanier Middle School and former Gwinnett County Counselor of the Year; and Andrea Antwine — 2007, seventh-grade counselor at Lanier Middle School. All three testified in 2007 — the year before the program was later stated to have been created by Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks.
“Mr. Larry Veal has been counseling several males at Shiloh Middle School for the past three years on a voluntary basis… In seventh grade this year, 33 students have participated in his sessions. 31 students or 94% of the participants reduced negative behaviors… The services he has provided at no cost have been an effective intervention.”
“He has worked with our students here at Lanier Middle School for several years… The students respected him and learned valuable life lessons while working with him.”
“We have documented a noticeable reduction in the number of discipline referrals… Mr. Veal is a role model who presents a positive message that is both powerful and valuable.”
“Thanks for coming today! The students really enjoyed you!!”Five Forks Middle School
“Over that period of time the behavior change was immense and phenomenal. I could not believe it, and his teachers could not believe it… This curriculum belongs in every home and school everywhere.”
“I was wondering why my son started doing his chores.”
“You helped me a lot when you talked about not taking drugs. That same week I was going to try Marijuana on a Saturday… I decided not to take Marijuana with those kids. On Monday I heard those kids were arrested. I could have been in juvenile, but because of you I’m not.”
“Mr. Veal the first time I just thought you were here for the money, but then I got to realize you wanted to help us. You were giving real life stuff that made sense.”
“At first I would just go to get out of class… But you showed me that you have to care for your grades and family and yourself… You can’t waste it by going to jail or going to join a gang.”
“Some of the things you’ve taught us we would have never known. I hope you come back next year.”
“I havent been arrested again or kicked out of school again. I have improved my grades & have shown more respect to my teachers.”
The remaining student letters — from Shane Huckleby, Javier Lunez, Justin Rumbery, and William Hernandez — are printed in full in the book’s appendix, “Letters from Students.” Read all nine letters in the book.
Otis Russell, 8th grade, Shiloh Middle School — recognized the day he realized he was passing all his classes.
Select any photo to see it larger.
Larry D. Veal — comedian, speaker, author — has spent his life doing two things that turned out to be one thing: making people laugh, and keeping young people out of prison.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Sociology from HBCU Paine College in Augusta, Georgia (1989), and served as a Georgia correctional officer, a Fulton County juvenile probation officer, and a juvenile boot camp instructor in Indianapolis before founding Be More Positive Enterprises in Metro Atlanta. In the early 1990s he began taking comedy into schools — auditorium assemblies that became small-group mentoring, and mentoring that became Gwinnett County’s community-based mentoring work in the county’s secondary schools. From October 2023 to August 2026 he led the New Directions diversion program for the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, delivering his I Have Willpower curriculum to court-involved youth.
His honors include Best Minority Non-Profit in Gwinnett County (2010), the Home Depot Foundation Charity of the Year (2015), and the NAACP Making a Difference Award (2006). His services led to the creation of the community-based mentoring department as currently in use by the Gwinnett County Public School System.
On stage he is Coop D. Veal — clean, country, original comedy, thirty years and counting. In print, he is the author of Message to Mission, Troubled Kids Need Jesus Too, and Funny Jokes & Stories to Take Your Mind Off Serious Stuff.
His words for all of it:“Before you kick them out, let us help them out.”