The holiday bowl is a new tradition for a san diego non-profit that helps troubled teens.
50 kids with the Boys To Men Mentoring organization were given free tickets to the game between the Washington State Cougars and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Mauricio Fernandez joined the program three years ago.
"I had trouble in my home and at school and I went in boys to men and it helped me out," the 13-year-old said.
The program is designed to help kids without father figures by connecting them with mentors. Craig McClain helped start the program 20 years ago. He said 73% of the boys in the program - don't have fathers in their lives. Every week, Boys To Men mentors go to the participating schools fill that gap for the students in the program.
"We kind of give them a little taste of what it is to be a good man, and tell them how we screwed up, and ask them how they're screwing up," McClain said.
When McClain started the organization - just five kids participated. Back then they met at Mission Bay and Play Football. Today, the program helps 700 kids across the county.
At the Holiday Bowl, the boys sold programs. For every program sold, $1 is donated to the organization. McClain said, it's another way to teach the boys responsibility.
"A lot of these kids come from troubled backgrounds and they're not trusted at school and home," he said. "We trust them here and we let them handle money and they always come through."
