Students at the University of South Carolina are working to provide a positive environment to juvenile detainees through sports and mentorship.
Share ONE Love is a non-profit organization founded in 2013 by South Carolina natives Jordan “J.T.” Thomas and his brother during their senior year at USC. Thomas said the brothers knew they wanted to change the world through sports but weren’t entirely sure how.
Share ONE Love began by community-building through sports internationally in Sri Lanka and Nicaragua. After returning from Nicaragua in 2017, they decided the best place to utilize their organization was back home, in Columbia, South Carolina.
“We really felt conflicted that we were going to other people's homes and telling those young people, ‘These are the things that you need to do,’ and not necessarily doing anything for the young people in our own backyard,” Thomas said.
In 2017, the organization began working with the South Carolina Juvenile Justice Department, which became their primary focus ever since. At the time, the Columbia-based non-profit mostly relied on volunteers from Ft. Jackson.
Six years later, volunteers from USC created an official Share ONE Love affiliated club to mobilize more students to the cause. Since then, membership has increased by 250%.
The organization volunteers at the three different juvenile detention centers located in the Columbia area, providing the detainees with opportunities to play sports such as kickball, ultimate frisbee, football, basketball and others.
“Our philosophy is that when we play sports with these youth … they’re able to regulate their emotions,” fourth-year biochemistry and molecular biology student and USC Share ONE Love President Sarah Hobson said.
For kids uninterested in playing sports, Share ONE Love still seeks to provide a positive environment with adults whom they can talk to.
“A lot of our volunteers aren't good at sports at all … they just go and they'll sit on sidelines with the youth and just talk to them, get to know them," Hobson said. "We never ask them how they ended up there, or when they're getting out.”
Hobson said she knows that not everyone believes in second chances for juvenile detainees. She recounted hearing the news that a former detainee she had mentored had been reincarcerated. She said her friends couldn't understand why she would care about a youth affiliated with crime.
"They didn't understand the part where I had mentored this person and seen the side of him that isn't part of that affiliation," Hobson said. "Many people just don't realize that these youth, most of the time, if not the majority, they don't ask for these circumstances."
Hobson said the stigma around juvenile detention affects the club's fundraising efforts as well.
“For our fundraising ... many businesses have told us no, many people won’t even give us a second chance to explain ourselves because they read ‘juvenile justice,’” Hobson said.
Still, the members of Share ONE Love are undeterred. Fourth-year public health student Ger’Azia Nabritt joined Share ONE Love at the beginning of the fall 2025 semester. She said her work with Share ONE Love was fulfilling and changed her perspective.
“Being able to be there and just provide that knowledge and knowing that you will be a fundamental factor in their life, because you actually gave them a chance … For me, it makes it all worth it,” Nabritt said. “It's really helped my mental health because I actually know that I'm making a change.”
Students interested in getting involved with Share One Love can visit the club’s GarnetGate page, while non-students can visit the organization’s website.