Baltimore Region Coaches Help Put City Youth to Work
Coaches Breakfast Slated for January 28, 2008

Baltimore, MD - Senator Catherine Pugh will join more than two dozen Baltimore area coaches from middle and high schools, and colleges and universities at the Race for Work Coaches Breakfast on Monday January 28, 2008 at 7:00 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Inner Harbor located at 301 W. Lombard Street. The breakfast event is designed to support Baltimore City’s annual YouthWorks summer jobs campaign while recognizing the importance of physical fitness among area youth. Coaches will be asked to recruit and prepare students and their families to participate in this fund-raising effort.

Mayor Shelia Dixon’s 2008 YouthWorks summer jobs campaign’s theme is Summer Jobs are Everyone’s Business. She is asking Baltimore’s leaders and communities to help secure enough funds and job pledges to enable 6,500 young people to work this summer. The program, administered by the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, will operate from June 23 through August 1, 2008. It will place youth between the ages of 14 to 21 in summer work experiences in a variety of public and private sector settings, including city agencies, local non-profit organizations, and small and large businesses. For every $1250 raised, a student will have an opportunity to earn money in a six-week summer job experience and gain marketable skills.

The Race for Work is a 3-mile race and a 1-mile walk or fun run through Druid Hill Park and is scheduled for Sunday, May 31, 2008 from 8 a.m. until noon – rain or shine. Hundreds of community and business leaders, families and area educators will participate in the 4th annual Race for Work to support Baltimore City’s YouthWorks summer job campaign. There will be prizes awarded for the top school and family teams as well as for top individual finishers who participate in the Race for Work.

“We continue to form great partnerships that will give Baltimore City youth a running start to enhance their employment and academic goals,” said Alice Cole, youth services director for the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development.

The Race for Work is sponsored by Comcast, The Johns Hopkins Health System, Corrigan Sports Enterprises, Inc. and Whiting Turner. Other participating sponsors include, Giant Foods, Air Tran Airways, CA Sports, The Holiday Inn Inner Harbor, Southwest Airlines, Baltimore City Public Schools, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods, Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks, Baltimore City Fire Department, Baltimore City Health Department, Baltimore City Department of Public Works, Baltimore City Police Department and Radio One.

For details on attending the Coaches Breakfast, making financial contributions or hiring pre-screened youth, contact the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development’s Youth Works office at 410-396-6722.