America’s Promise Allianceannounced Tuesday that the Alexandria-Olympic Boys and Girls Club has beendesignated a “Promise Place.” A Promise Place is any school,community center, place of worship, business or organization that providesyouth with the Alliance’s Five Promises caring adults; safe places; a healthystart; an effective education; and opportunities to help others under oneroof.
To commemorate the event,Alliance Chair Alma Powell, club officials and Alexandria Mayor Bill Euillejoined with youths from the club and volunteers from the U.S. Department ofState and Alliance staff to construct a new on-site garden. This garden projectis part of the Alliance’s support of President Barack Obama’s summer serviceinitiative “United We Serve” and will help provide an educational andhealthy food experience for the hundreds of young people served by the club.Youths helped construct the garden that includes everything from fruits andvegetables to herbs and flowers.
“It’s an honor for theAlexandria-Olympic Club to be named the first Promise Place in NorthernVirginia,” said Jim Almond, area director of the Alexandria-Fairfax CountyRegion for Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. “For more than 70years we’ve proudly served the children and youth of this community and as weprepare to unveil a newly renovated club this fall, this garden will be symbolof a new era of growth and hope for our young people.”
As a Promise Place, theclub has earned the distinction of becoming a local Alliance Partner. Inaddition to receiving a certificate of achievement and a decal identifying itas a Promise Place, the club will join a network of dozens of other PromisePlaces both locally and nationwide to share and receive information on how bestto provide more Promises to local youth.
“If we are going to truly changeoutcomes for our young people then we have got to start approaching theirdevelopment in a holistic sense,” said Marguerite W. Kondracke, presidentand CEO of America’s Promise Alliance. “This success model is embodied inPromise Places like the Alexandria-Olympic Boys and Girls Club. By offeringyoung people all of the services they need under one roof we areexponentially increasing the chances that they’ll receive the support they needand succeed.”
