YouthQuest Co-Founders Lynda Mann and Allen Cage presented awards on August 6 to individuals and organizations whose support has been crucial to our Foundation’s success.
FOUNDERS AWARD
When we considered who should receive our first Founders Award, Scott MacDonald immediately came to mind. He is the clear choice for this special recognition as we prepare to celebrate YouthQuest’s 10th anniversary.
Scott, the owner and president of RE/MAX Gateway in Chantilly, Virginia, has been with us from the beginning. Not only has he sponsored every one of our events, he’s held his own fundraisers for YouthQuest. He constantly promotes the values and mission of our Foundation.
Scott sets an outstanding example of personal integrity and commitment to community. He has been vital to our organization since the day YouthQuest was founded. We are grateful for his generous support and proud to honor him with the Founders Award.
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
Edna Davis is the quintessential volunteer. She takes on the hard jobs and she gets them done with a smile.
As executive assistant to AOC Solutions President and CEO Allen Cage, Edna’s daily to-do list is a long one. Yet she’s always willing to make time for us because she shares Allen’s passion for helping at-risk youth.
Edna is persuasive and tenacious, as you know if you were at last year’s Challenge at Trump National charity tournament where she got 100 percent of the golfers to buy tickets for the 50/50 raffle.
Regardless of the task – whether behind the scenes or on the front lines – Edna is always there to answer to call for YouthQuest.
3D THINKLINK STRATEGIC PARTNER
Prototype Productions, Inc. in Ashburn, Virginia has hosted tours for our students during every 3D ThinkLink class cycle since the project began in 2013.
These Vocational Orientation visits show the students how 3D design and printing is used in a wide variety of career fields. At PPI, they get to see all the steps in the prototyping process and learn about the importance of innovative thinking and problem solving at work.
CEO Joe Travez makes the experience even more valuable by sharing his personal story with the students. It’s inspirational for these at-risk teens to learn about how he turned away from gangs, embraced education and family, and built a thriving high-tech business from scratch. His message about making smart decisions and going the extra mile to achieve his goals is exactly what our students need to hear.
Because of their consistent support of YouthQuest’s mission, we are pleased to recognize PPI as this year’s 3D ThinkLink Strategic Partner.
COMMUNITY PARTNER
We discovered Derrick Campana through our strategic partner, 3D Systems, because they worked together to invent revolutionary 3D-printed legs for a disabled dog named Derby. (Click here to see a video about Derby.)
We’re fortunate to have Derrick’s Animal Orthocare, one of the few businesses in the world that specializes in orthotics and prosthetics for animals, located just a few miles from our headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia.
Animal Orthocare is a favorite stop on Vocational Orientation tours for our 3D ThinkLink students. During a recent visit, they enjoyed Derrick’s hands-on demonstration of making plaster casts of limbs and saw how he used 3D scanning and printing to create customized parts for prosthetics.
Since then, Derrick has been busy developing new mobility devices for animals. He even traveled to Thailand in July to help two elephants that were maimed by land mines. We can’t wait to learn more when we take the next group of Maryland and DC students to Animal Orthocare for Vocational Orientation in October.
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Awards were presented during YouthQuest’s annual VIP Reception, at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Tysons Corner, Virginia. We thank Fleming’s Operating Partner Michael Garcia and his staff for hosting an outstanding event. Here are more photos from the evening.
