I Have a Dream youth, staff will run as Dream Team in corporate challenge

LOUISVILLE – The I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County has entered a team of youths and staff members in the Freeman Myre Corporate Challenge and CTC Sunset 5K running race.

Youth from low-income families involved in foundation’s program and staff members have been training for the past several months to run in the race.

I Have a Dream, a school drop-out prevention program for low-income youth, uses academic support programs, long-term mentoring relationships and the guarantee of a tuition-assistance scholarship to help children graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary education.

Partial proceeds from the race will benefit I Have a Dream’s Fitness for Life program. Through the program, Dreamers have the chance to participate in a number of recreational activities as a way to boost physical fitness and gain exposure to a variety of sports and physical activities.

Fitness for Life activities include Aces for Kids Tennis program, Friday Fitness Club at YMCA, Burton Chill snowboarding program, training for and participating in the corporate challenge, and the opportunity to enroll in physical fitness classes of their choice.

“This event represents our mission of helping Dreamers achieve their dreams,´ said Chief Executive Officer Lori Canova. “Our programs encourage these at-risk youth to never give up on their goals and to do their best in order to reach their full potential.”

Since 1990, the I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County has helped 400 children from low-income areas achieve their education and career goals.

The organization adopts entire groups of students from elementary schools, or from low-income public housing sites, and works with these children and their families through high school. Currently, there are five “I Have a Dream” classes in Boulder County, Boulder, Longmont and Lafayette.

The program has doubled expected graduation rates for its three graduated classes of students, and awards more than $90,000 in scholarships each year. The program follows the national model established in New York in 1981 by founder Eugene Lang. Since then, 190 projects nationwide have helped more than 14,000 students.

The I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County’s main office is located at 2515 E. Sterling Circle, Suite 200, Boulder, CO 80301. 

For more information about the “I Have a Dream”(r) Foundation, call 303-444-3636 or visit www.ihadboulder.org.

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