The 14th Annual Swing ‘Fore’ Kids Golf Tournament benefitting the Jeffries Street Learning Center in Dallas is scheduled for Monday June 25, 2011. The charity tournament will be held at the “Tour 18” Golf Course located at 8718 Amen Corner in Flower Mound, Texas. The tournament begins at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start. There will be two hole-in-one contests, one for $10,000 and one for a car. The tournament also includes breakfast, an awards luncheon and a raffle.
The proceeds from the golf tournament historically have proven critical in providing the money needed to keep the center open during the summer months. “The air conditioning bill alone during the summer is $1100 a month,” said Levi Williams, president of the Jeffries Street Learning Center. “Many of our kids would not have structured programs to attend during the summer were it not for our summer program. We think it is important to keep our children engaged with both educational and fun activities during the summer to keep them motivated to stay in school.”
As the Jeffries Street Learning celebrates its 26th anniversary this year it takes pride in the support it has provided to young people in the South Dallas area through mentors, tutors and a computer lab. 95 percent of Jeffries Street students have passed standardized tests like TAKS.
The Jeffries Street Learning Center provides educational and mentoring programs for low income and under-privileged children and adults in the South Dallas/Fair Park community. The center averages 90 children and adults daily who participate in after-school tutoring, computer and financial literacy, homebuyer training, GED classes, First Tuesday Club for seniors and summer camp programs.
Anyone interested in being a sponsor or taking part in the golf tournament can call 214-426-1834 or log onto the website at www.jeffriesstreet.org
Good luck with the fundraiser! I am pleased to see that the program includes financial literacy as a core offering. Our kids, regardless of socioeconomic background, need to learn the difference between needs and wants as well as how to create and maintain a budget. A further recommendation to the organization is to partner with a community bank to offer free accounts. LIttle known fact from Washington University in St. Louis: youth with a savings account in their name are 7X more likely to go to college than similar kids without an account in their name. That is powerful!
Jesse Torres
President and CEO
Pan American Bank
East Los Angeles, CA
“California’s Oldest Latino-Owned Bank”
http://www.facebook.com/panamericanbank