For
Immediate Release:
September 9, 2003
Contact:
Jeremy
Gregg
Dir.
of Development & Communications
Telephone:
214 824 1122, ext. 229
E-mail:
[email protected]
STAPLES FOUNDATION FOR LEARNING GRANT FUNDS
CAMP FIRE’S TEENS IN ACTION PROGRAM
Camp Fire provides teens with
job skills and setting and achieving career goals
DALLAS � Camp Fire USA Lone Star Council has received a
$5,000 grant from the Staples Foundation for Learning
to support Camp Fire�s Teens in Action program; these
funds will enable this program to foster the development of
job skills, the setting of career goals and for educational
achievement in disadvantaged youth living in low-income
apartment communities throughout Dallas.
Camp Fire USA�s newest program, Teens in
Action brings boys and girls, ages 12-17, together through
weekly meetings at schools, apartment communities and other
locations throughout the Greater Dallas area. Groups are led
by full-time youth development professionals.
�These staff serve as
positive adult mentors for disadvantaged youth who struggle
with the difficult stages of adolescence,� said Pete Chavez,
program director for the Teens in Action program. �Funds
from Staples Foundation will help us provide more services
to youth throughout Dallas.�
�Staples Foundation for
Learning is proud to help Camp Fire USA provide a phenomenal job
skills program that truly impacts the lives of young people
throughout Dallas,� stated Shira Goodman, Vice President of
Staples Foundation for Learning.
Currently, Teens in Action
offers weekly programs at five low-income apartment
communities in areas of extreme need.
�Since these Teens in Action
programs are offered on-site and at absolutely no cost to
teens living in these communities, there is no cost or
transportation barrier,� said Tim James, executive director
of the Lone Star Council. �In 2002, this effective delivery
of service enabled the program to touch the lives of 120
teenagers from low-income families.�
Through Teens in Action, teenagers are actively involved in
shaping their own future and in understanding how they can
also shape the future of their community and our world.
Practical job and career development skills are taught
through such activities as creating r�sum�s, goal-charting,
attending career fairs and speaking with professionals about
the work that they do.
Many of the program�s members also take advantage of the
program�s job placement assistance, which helps them to
secure job shadowing experiences, internships and employment
opportunities in area�s that interest them. Over the coming
year, with the support of the Staples Foundation for
Learning, Camp Fire USA looks to expand this program to
serve over 500 youth throughout the Greater Dallas area.
-30-
About Staples Foundation for Learning
Launched
in August of 2002, Staples Foundation for Learning, Inc. is a
private foundation created by Staples Inc. to provide funding
to charitable programs that support or provide job training or
educational opportunities to all people, with a special
emphasis on disadvantaged youth. To date, Staples Foundation
for Learning has awarded over $1.2 million dollars in grants
to non-profit organizations and is a national sponsor of the
Boys & Girls Clubs of America. For more information about the
foundation or how to apply for a grant, please visit
www.staplesfoundation.org.
About
Camp Fire
USA
With the mission �to build
caring, confident youth and future leaders,� Camp Fire was founded in 1910 as the
nation�s first interracial, non-sectarian organization for
girls. The Lone Star Council began serving girls in 1913, and
then opened its doors to boys in 1975 (when it became Camp
Fire Boys and Girls). In 2001, this co-ed organization changed
its name to Camp Fire
USA in an effort to communicate both the organization’s relevance and its
differentiation, as well as to position
Camp Fire as an innovative,
progressive and all-inclusive youth development organization.
www.campfireusadallas.org.
|
|
|
|
| 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |
|
|
|
| Camp Fire USA is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit youth development organization. The Lone Star Council is a United Way agency. |