Arthur Blank Family Foundation

ATLANTA, April 28, 2003 -- The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation recently approved 90 grants totaling more than $9 million to nonprofit partners to create opportunities for underserved youth, preserve green space, sustain the arts and spark community collaboration.

An innovative program introducing high school students to potential careers in serving their community, funded by a $500,000 contribution by The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and managed through United Way of Metropolitain Atlanta, will give metro Atlanta youth an opporunity to work in more than 60 nonprofit agencies in Fulton and DeKalb counties. The 10-week experience will also offer opportunities to learn financial literacy and gain valuable work experience in the nonprofit world.

"This is where passion meets opportunity," said Ira A. Jackson, president of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. "Summertime can be either rewarding or dangerous for youth depending on the opportunities we give them. What better time to give students who care about community a chance to learn by doing, by serving others?"

While there have long been internship opportunities for high school students in business and government, the Blank Family Fellows program is the first of its kind in Atlanta's nonprofit sector.

Interest in the program among local teens is high: more than 300 students applied for 90 internship slots for June through August of this year. Community volunteers and nonprofit leaders assisted by interviewing applicants. For many of the students, who are predominantly from low-to-middle income families, this was their first interview experience.

"I found out about the internship through involvement with my neighborhood community center," said Raynetta Bennett, 10th grade student at Tri-Cities High School. "My work with the kids there has inspired me to pursue a career in child psychology and this internship will help me get a head start. Plus, it allows me to learn more about the nonprofit world."

At a time when meaningful summer jobs can be scarce, this program offers full and part-time paid internships with transportation assistance and training. It will provide safe, productive employment while affording Atlanta youth a chance to gain practical experience in functional areas within nonprofit agencies, such as marketing and event programming. The program also fills a critical need by providing supplemental staff help for nonprofits that are strapped for resources.

"In these tough economic times, more than ever, nonprofit organizations could use an extra hand," said Laureen Lamb, strategy director, after school initiative for United Way. "And we know that helping young people learn and be productive is key to making our community stronger."

The Blank Family Fellow interns will receive the "Basics of Financial Literacy," a primer on successful money management, and will be the first set of students recruited for involvement in the Youth Individual Development Account (IDA) program. The Youth IDA program is a match savings account program designed to promote a pattern of regular savings and responsible spending and budgeting for youth in metropolitan Atlanta.

The "Basics of Financial Literacy" sessions, along with an extenuating Economic Literacy component, will work in conjunction with Youth IDA to achieve two specific goals:

Encourage and support young people as they set goals, take personal responsibility and learn about money management.
Promote positive savings behavior by providing young people with opportunities to save and invest in high-return assets.

The more than 60 nonprofit agencies slated to host the diverse Blank Family Fellows include The Alliance Theatre, The Boys and Girls Club, Chattahoochee Nature Center, Piedmont Park Conservatory, Georgia Senior Legal Hotline and the Refugee Family Services. Based on the success of this summer's pilot venture, the program may expand to other nonprofits and sponsors next year.

The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation creates opportunities for underserved youth and strives to be a catalyst for positive social change. Since 1995, the Foundation has awarded more than $100 million in grants to nonprofit partners serving young people and their communities.