Gary Hoffman, left, and fellow volunteer Tony Sanderson at YouthQuest's 2010 golf tournament
Throughout his career, Gary Hoffman has met “a lot of really good kids who had just gotten off the right path.”
He’s a longtime YouthQuest Foundation volunteer because he’s seen how the programs we support put at-risk teens back on the path to a better life.
Gary has volunteered at our annual fundraising golf event since 2008. (This year’s Challenge at Trump National Golf Club is on Aug. 12. Click here for details and registration information.)
“I got involved with the golf tournament as a volunteer to support the cause because I knew what great things they did for at-risk youth in the community,” he says.
Gary is an account manager with Temporary Solutions, an Employment Enterprises company based in Manassas, Va. Previously, he worked in higher education business development and the Job Corps, which introduced him to the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academy program. In the process, he learned about our Foundation’s partnership with the ChalleNGe program and became an enthusiastic YouthQuest supporter.
He praises the Foundation’s dedication to providing high school dropouts with opportunities to resume their education, and to learn the life skills and values they need to become “healthy, productive adults in the community.”
At-risk kids see the world as “being against them,” Gary explains. “But when they see there is a community out there that supports them and wants to see them succeed, then it gives them a broader view of society and lets them know there is a possibility that they can succeed in life if they just apply themselves and surround themselves with the right people.”
YouthQuest helps them do that not only by making financial contributions, he says, but by “showing them there are people in the community that stand behind them and support their positive growth and development.”
“YouthQuest opens their eyes and gives them a glimpse of what’s possible,” says Gary. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to become a part of it and gladly volunteer my time.”
YouthQuest Co-Founder and President Lynda Mann co-hosted a recent Executive Leaders Radio program, highlighting the Foundation’s new STEM project for at-risk youth.
Lynda and program host Peter Schwartz spoke with four Northern Virginia business leaders, including YouthQuest Co-Founder and Vice President Allen Cage, about their passion for their businesses and why they believe it’s important to give back to their communities.
Allen, who is CEO of AOC Solutions, discussed YouthQuest’s focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) training for troubled teens. He also introduced Joshua Wilcox, one of students from the first 3D printing class YouthQuest sponsored at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy in Maryland.
“I was fascinated with the technology,” said Joshua, who started exploring career opportunities in the 3D printing field after he graduated from Freestate in June. He said the class gave him valuable experience in additive manufacturing — something few job-seekers his age can tell prospective employers.
Joshua added that the Academy, which is run by the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program, helped him turn his life around after he got into trouble with drugs and gave up on school.
“I feel pretty good. I’m actually going somewhere in my life,” he said.
Allen said YouthQuest is so encouraged by the results of the STEM project at Freestate Academy that it’s planning to expand the program to other states and “grow with the technology” by acquiring more sophisticated equipment and opening a lab.
“This is the future” in design and manufacturing, Charlie White said during his radio interview.
Charlie, who owns private commercial lender BLA Financial, praised YouthQuest’s emphasis on technology
“When you’re looking at people who need to have their lives turned around, high-tech is the way to go,” he said. YouthQuest, he added, is “right there in the forefront and they’re involving these kids in it.”
“Education is the key to success in life as far as I’m concerned,” said Paul Gurman. That’s why he has supported YouthQuest for years by making donations and participating in the annual fundraising golf tournament.
Paul is a partner in the accounting firm Gurman and Co., which provides tax and audit services for the Foundation. Besides the professional connection, he has a personal interest in YouthQuest’s mission to help at-risk children.
“Everybody needs some help,” he explained. Although Paul grew up in “a solid home with a close family,” he said he’s seen plenty “kids without help.”
“That’s a shame. If I can help in any way to strengthen their opportunities, I want to.”
Making a Difference
Paul pointed to the students from the 3D printing class as examples of young people who are seizing opportunities.
“They really are committed to improving themselves,” he said. “We just need to be able to make that path a little easier and that’s what YouthQuest is doing.”
Michael Garcia at YouthQuest’s 2012 golf tournament
Restaurant owner Michael Garcia said he was drawn to YouthQuest by Lynda and Allen’s “passion to make a difference” in the lives of at-risk kids. He plays every year in the golf tournament and has hosted YouthQuest events at his restaurant, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar in McLean, Va.
It was “eye-opening” to spend time with the STEM project students during an awards luncheon at Fleming’s in June, said Michael.
“I can see in them the appreciation and that somewhere in their mind they know this is their last stand.”
Michael is convinced that YouthQuest and the Freestate program are changing lives. He recalled his conversation with one of the students.
“You could see him planning his future out and a short time ago that wasn’t possible. His future was going to be… dead, sooner than later. He was going down the wrong path. But now you watch the sparkle in this guy’s eyes,” he said.
“Man, these people are making a difference!”
Giving Back Is Good Business
Supporting organizations that make a difference doesn’t just make business leaders feel good. It’s good for business.
“Problems need to have solutions,” said Michael. “So if people associate Fleming’s with helping, they’re going to want to come in and be guests.”
Paul agreed that giving back to the community helps get his business noticed by potential clients. His personal philanthropy also sets an example for his staff. However, the benefits go beyond that.
Being at the point in his professional life where he can use his success to help others gives him “a good feeling,” Paul said.
“It may not be all the monetary success in the world, but when I lay my head on my pillow at night, I can sleep and I know that I’ve done a good job.”
David Keuhner, the founder and CEO of Destination Cellars, has played in The YouthQuest Foundation’s fundraising golf tournament every year since 2009. He’ll be there again this year, on August 12, for The Challenge at Trump National.
David told us why he supports YouthQuest:
I got involved with YouthQuest Foundation back in late 2008. After having an opportunity to meet with co-founders Lynda Mann and Allen Cage and learning more about what the goals of YouthQuest were, I had to get involved in some way.
Having lost my father when I was six years old, I was raised by a single mom. Luckily, I had a great family and a support cast of friends that helped over the years. However I was certainly a perfect candidate for being an “at-risk youth.” I was extremely lucky, but unfortunately many kids aren’t. They don’t have a solid foundation around them to help them succeed.
I understand — and YouthQuest clearly understands — that our youth are the next leaders of our country. They need a strong base to build upon for the future. YouthQuest is trying to give these kids a second chance with a solid foundation to learn and to be a positive influence to society. YouthQuest is a model foundation to help the youth of tomorrow.
Not only is David a great friend of our Foundation, he’s also one of the most fashionable players on the golf course every year. Will he be sporting the multi-colored polka-dot shorts again this time? The bold diamond pattern? The elegant basic black or gray?
Maybe he’ll surprise us with a new look for 2013. You can help decide. Post a comment on our Facebook page to tell David what to wear this year. Then sign up to join David and our other supporters for a day of fun and fundraising at Trump National in Potomac Falls, Va. For details, visit www.youthquestfoundation.org or call (703) 234-4633.
Tom Meeks works with Cadet Oscar Gonzales in YouthQuest’s 3D printing class at Freestate ChallenNGe Academy.
We launched our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) project to teach 3D printing because it supports The YouthQuest Foundation’s goal of providing vocational training for at-risk youth. What we didn’t realize when we started the program is that 3D printing also teaches these teens the life skills they need to succeed.
“3D printing is not an end in itself. It’s a means to an end, and that end is to grow our brains,” explains YouthQuest Volunteer of the Year Tom Meeks, who taught the class at Freestate ChalleNGe Academy.
The former junior high school teacher is passionate about 3D printing. As soon as he heard about our plan for the project, he says, he knew he wanted to be involved because it “offered a way to encourage students to be more creative — to learn about thinking.”
“When we learn how to think and we learn how to be creative and use our brains in different ways than we normally use them, then we can use that in any part of our lives,” Tom says.
“It’s not about making cheap plastic parts. That’s the first thing I tell people about 3D printing,” says Tom. “It’s about being able to come up with a vision and then realize that vision in some concrete way.”
“And the most important part of that process is learning to fail.”
Cadet Nancy Tapia-Loza assembles parts she designed and printed to make a model of a mechanical arm.
The Cadets in the STEM project were all too familiar with failure. They were at the Freestate Academy, which is part of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, because they’d made the mistake of giving up on school. Besides the general lack of motivation that’s typical in adolescents, these kids were in trouble because of substance abuse, pregnancy and many of the other problems that are common for at-risk youth. The Academy was, as Tom puts it, “their last chance.”
Although the cadets were “extremely excited” about being chosen from among more than 100 classmates to take part in the project, says Tom, they were “afraid to fail.” They had failed often in the past – and had given up.
“In 3D printing, what they learned was it’s OK to fail as long as you see that failure as a way to make changes and go on to success. And that’s what they did over and over again,” Tom explains with a smile.
“They didn’t gripe about the failure. They looked at it, they analyzed it and then they learned how to make corrections in the design so that the next thing they printed was going to be closer to what they envisioned.”
Life-Changing Lessons
A few weeks ago, as they prepared to graduate from Freestate, the students met with Tom to talk about what they’d learned in the 3D printing class.
“Every one of them said that it changed their life in some way,” he recalls, “It changed their attitude toward life, the way they looked at life, the way they were going to go forward and meet challenges in the future. Every one of them.”
The class changed Tom’s life, too. In fact, he calls it the highlight of his career.
“It was so neat to see the changes that were happening in their lives and the enthusiasm that was happening in their lives. It was just emotionally uplifting for me in a big way,” Tom says. “So it didn’t matter how far I traveled. It didn’t matter that I was losing some money at work. What mattered was I’m a part of something really important in the lives of these kids. I expect to see big changes in their future because of this one class and all the other things that the ChalleNGe Academy does.”
At the 2012 Challenge at Trump National Golf Club, YouthQuest Foundation Co-Founders Lynda Mann and Allen Cage presented a check for $5,000 to the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy, represented by (L-R) Thunder Young, Bobby Stewart, Keith Hammond, Terry Lynn Dunmeyer, Kelvin Sandler.
The Challenge at Trump National Golf Club is The YouthQuest Foundation’s signature fundraising event. This annual tournament is vital to the success of our mission to provide life-changing opportunities for America’s at-risk youth.
We’ve held charity tournaments every year since 2006 and our goal is to make this year’s event – on August 12 at the world-class Trump National Golf Club, Washington, DC — the biggest and best one yet.
Bobby Stewart told his inspiring story at last year’s tournament.
At last year’s tournament, we presented a check for $5,000 to support the Maryland Freestate ChalleNGe Academy. Bobby Stewart, who graduated from the Academy in 2000, played in the tournament and spoke during the awards ceremony about the dramatic difference Freestate made for him as a troubled teen. Bobby had given up on high school, but the Academy run by the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program provided the structure and discipline he needed to earn his diploma and go on to success in the auto dealership business.
This year, the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy became the home of our first 3D printing project for at-risk youth.
Our supporters come back to play in the tournament year after year because they know their donations help kids who are in trouble turn their lives around. On top of that, they get to enjoy a day of fun at a club few golfers ever have the chance to experience.
The event begins with a trick shot demonstration by Golf Entertainer Brad Denton, followed by a shotgun start for the foursomes and their celebrity players. Lunch is served on the course and the day wraps up with a reception and awards ceremony.
We’re pleased that so many of our regular players have signed up already. Now we need to add some newcomers so we can double our numbers from last year and fill both of the magnificent Trump National courses in Potomac Falls, Va.
Cadets from YouthQuest's 3D printing project at Freestate Challenge Academy received certificates and tablet computers at an awards ceremony June 11.
Eight Freestate ChalleNGe Academy Cadets who participated in the first 3D printing class sponsored by The YouthQuest Foundation were honored at an awards ceremony on June 11.
The students in this STEM project for at-risk youth spent 30 hours learning to design and fabricate objects using Moment of Inspiration modeling software and CUBE 3D printers.
The program at Maryland’s Aberdeen Proving Ground developed problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, along with providing practical, hands-on experience that will give these teens an advantage if they choose to pursue a career in the rapidly growing field of additive manufacturing.
That’s the lesson Cadet Adonis Gonzales said he learned by taking part in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) project for at-risk youth sponsored by The YouthQuest Foundation.
Gonzales and seven other Maryland Freestate ChalleNGe Academy Cadets spent five months learning about the cutting-edge technology of 3D printing in classes led by YouthQuest volunteer Tom Meeks. They used Moment of Inspiration modeling software donated by Triple Squid Software Design and CUBE printers given by 3D Systems in their training at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
On June 6, the Cadets visited Northern Virginia to see how businesses use 3D printing.
The first stop was Prototype Productions, Inc. in Ashburn, where designers and engineers showed how the company creates a variety of products, including military gear and medical devices. The Cadets were especially impressed to hear CEO Joe Travez describe how he and his brother started the business in their garage two decades ago with just $500, a dream and a supportive family.
Next, the Cadets toured the 3D Systems facility in Herndon where the CUBE printers they used in class were made. They marveled at the sight of shelves filled with printers being tested at the end of the assembly line – each machine fabricating a small plastic shoe, layer by layer.
It was clear from the questions they asked during their tours that the students were making connections between what they had done in class and what the employees at PPI and 3D Systems do on the job. Besides getting a taste of 3D printing on an industrial scale, the Cadets saw the importance of creativity, collaboration and perseverance in the workplace.
According to Cadet Joshua Wilcox, the field trip “opened my eyes” to the job opportunities related to 3D printing.
Cadet Nancy Tapia-Loza had been considering a federal law enforcement career, but she said she changed her mind and now wants to explore engineering because of her experience in the 3D printing class.
During a recognition luncheon for the Cadets, YouthQuest President Lynda Mann announced that their instructor, Tom Meeks, had been chosen as the Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year.
The YouthQuest Foundation is a tax-exempt nonprofit that raises funds to provide academic and vocational development, as well as life-enriching experiences, for America’s at-risk youth.
The Freestate Academy is part of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program. Its mission is to reclaim the lives of high school dropouts by giving them the education, life skills, values and self-discipline they need to become productive citizens.
Cadets Vela, left, and Lewter use Moment of Inspiration modeling software to design a part for a 3D printing project.
Cadets at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy are the first to take part in our Fabrication Laboratory (Fab Lab) program.
The pilot project at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland introduces at-risk youth to the cutting-edge technology of additive manufacturing.
The Fab Lab program is sponsored by The YouthQuest Foundation and its strategic partners; 3D Systems, which provided the Cube 3D printers, and Triple Squid Software Design, which donated the Moment of Inspiration 3D modeling software. The class instructor is YouthQuest volunteer Tom Meeks.
Lynda Mann speaks about dropouts at the Vistage All-City conference in Tysons Corner, Va., April 25
YouthQuest Foundation Co-Founder and President Lynda Mann spoke to CEOs from the Washington, DC area on April 25 about how they can help at-risk youth.
Lynda’s presentation at the Vistage All-City conference in Tysons Corner, Va., outlined the scope of the nation’s chronic high school dropout problem and its costs for businesses, society and the teens themselves. She challenged business leaders to respond in four ways.
Review your Employee Assistance Program to make sure it addresses problems at home or at work that could cause family turmoil and lead a child to give up on school.
Review your educational assistance offerings to make sure employees have opportunities for continued learning. This improves employees’ work performance and confidence, and sends a message to their children about the importance of education.
Engage your local community by getting personally involved to understand issues, needs and opportunities in local schools. Hold one-on-one or small group meetings with potential dropouts.
Support skills training programs so teens who do drop out can learn a trade that will give them a chance to become productive citizens.
With the help of programs the YouthQuest Foundation supports, at-risk youth develop the vocational and life skills they need to fulfill their potential.
For more information about how you and your company can help address the dropout issue, please contact us at info@youthquestfoundation.org or call (703) 234-4633.
