A number of factors have been suggested as contributing to the resiliency of youth at risk for substance abuse. The Be A Star program builds on existing community‐based after school programs, focusing on those domains that have shown promise in building resiliency to withstand pressure from peers and the community to abuse substances. Approximately 700 children from the city of St. Louis participated in an after‐school group program that met once each week. Groups were assigned to either the Be A Star program or traditional after‐school groups. The evaluation indicates that those children who participate in the Be A Star program score significantly higher than comparison youths on 12 of the 16 factors tested. Suggestions are made regarding evaluation of community‐based projects and the use of weekly groups to build resiliency factors in preadolescent youths.