A new group is recruiting 30 area young men ages 7 to 14 to participate in free, monthly programs promoting achievement.

Called Central Virginia Cadet Corps, the group aims to provide activities to help participants develop their potential, according to Robert Barnette, a retired engineer and one of the founders.

Interested youngsters are asked to apply online at the group’s website, www.CentVACadets.org, Mr. Barnette said. The application deadline is Jan. 20.

There is no charge to the cadets, but each must have a parent or adult chaperone willing to be involved, Mr. Barnette said.

He said he and three friends created the program after expressing concern about the situation of young people.

“We wanted to do more than complain,” he said. “So we decided to create a program to assist young people to be successful. Our goal is to help them grow up to become the kind of men who are good husbands and make positive contributions to the community.”

The other co-founders include Dr. Marlon Haskell, pastor of Chicago Avenue Baptist Church, and Jesse Frierson and Dorothy Ware, who are active in community affairs.

He said the group is working with advisers in various fields.

He said programs are to include fishing trips, golf lessons, participation in a robotics competition and field trips to Virginia Beach and the Blue Ridge Mountains. The cadets also will receive lessons and compete in chess and oratory, Mr. Barnette said. The cadets are to meet one Saturday each month beginning Feb. 4, at Thirty-first Street Baptist Church in Church Hill, he said.

Additional information: CentVACadets@gmail.com.