Junior Achievement – Rocky Mountain Inc. (JA)
announced today that it has received a $77,000 grant from the Qwest
Foundation, a private foundation funded by Qwest
Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q). The funds will be used
to support two JA projects – JA Impulsa and
JA in a Day. JA is a local non-profit organization that strives to
prepare young people to succeed in a global economy by emphasizing the
importance of financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce
readiness.
JA Impulsa was launched in 2006 to encourage Hispanic youth to stay in
school by inspiring them to embrace free enterprise and prepare for
success in a global economy. Funds from the Qwest grant will be directed
toward JA Impulsa’s Parental Outreach
program, which seeks to engage parents in the JA curriculum. For the JA
in a Day component, Qwest adopted five local schools for one day with
174 employees volunteering more than 1,000 hours in local classrooms to
present JA’s interactive curriculum in
English and Spanish to 87 classrooms simultaneously.
“Junior Achievement is so thankful for the
generous financial and volunteer support we have received from Qwest,”
said Robin Wise, President of JA. “I am
continually impressed by the contributions the Qwest Foundation makes to
organizations that make Denver a better place to live, work and play.”
“The Qwest Foundation is committed to
investing in Colorado’s future workforce, and
we believe that the work Junior Achievement is doing in the Hispanic
community is contributing to the success of the next generation of our
workforce,” said Ric Padilla, vice president
of Qwest Corporate Social Responsibility.
The marks that comprise the Qwest logo are registered trademarks of
Qwest Communications International Inc. in the U.S. and certain other
countries.
About Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement relies on the success of business professionals to
inspire and prepare students embrace free enterprise and succeed in a
global economy. Junior Achievement's K-12 business and economic
curriculum comes to life when volunteers from the business community
lead students through the innovative, hands-on lesson plans. Volunteers
act as invaluable role models for students and provide relevance to what
students learn; showing students the link between education and future
opportunity. During the 2007-08 school year, Junior Achievement's proven
programs will reach 87,000 young people in 525 schools in Denver and
Northern Colorado, and will be taught by 3,000 volunteers. Share your
success and inspire kids to reach their full potential. For more
information, visit www.jacolorado.org
or call (303) 534-JAJA.
About the Qwest Foundation
The Qwest Foundation's core principle is that investing in people and
communities provides lasting value for the future. The Qwest Foundation
awards grants to community-based programs that generate high-impact and
measurable results, focusing on pre-K through grade 12 education.
