REDWOOD CITY, Calif.,
Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/
-- Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula and Comcast
NBCUniversal held a celebration today for the launch of My.Future,
a new technology initiative designed to teach Club members about
our digital world and ignite their passion for technology.
Comcast NBCUniversal is the Presenting Sponsor of My.Future,
which is available to the nearly 4 million youth served by more
than 4,100 Boys & Girls Clubs, including the Club kids at Boys
& Girls Clubs of the Peninsula. My.Future allows Club members
to select from more than 40 activities that reinforce digital
literacy, including areas of exploring the web, communicating with
others digitally and building media. Additional experiences allow
members to explore advanced topics, such as robotics, coding and
game design.
To support the technology needs of My.Future, the Comcast
Foundation provided the Club with $100,000 for state-of-the-art technology and
equipment, including computers, tablets, smartboards, digital
cameras, music studio tools and video-editing technology funded
through 2014 Comcast Foundation grant.
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula youth member
Roman Loza along with Fallon Smith from Comcast SportsNet kicked off
the event followed by remarks given by Boys & Girls Clubs of
the Peninsula Executive Director Peter
Fortenbaugh, Comcast Foundation President Charisse Lillie, and the Mayor of Redwood City, Jeffrey
Gee who took part in the celebration.
"Today's young people are digital natives, born into a world
where technology is ever-present and constantly changing. In order
to ensure great futures for all our youth, it is our job to keep up
to date with technology," said Peter
Fortenbaugh, Executive Director, Boys & Girls Clubs of
the Peninsula. "With the support of Comcast NBCUniversal and launch
of My.Future, our Club members will develop the technology skills
needed to pursue promising careers and thrive in today's digital
world."
"Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula makes a meaningful
difference in the lives of kids every day by inspiring them to
become productive, caring and responsible citizens," said
Charisse Lillie, President, Comcast
Foundation. "Comcast NBCUniversal is proud to partner with them to
launch My.Future ― helping to bridge the digital divide and develop
the computer scientists, engineers, software developers and
programmers of tomorrow."
Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Comcast NBCUniversal also
announced today that they have entered into a five-year national
partnership valued at tens of millions of dollars in cash and
in-kind to support the development and launch of My.Future.
Additionally, through the new partnership, Comcast will provide
in-kind support that will include national airtime for Boys &
Girls Clubs of America's public service announcements to
communicate the benefits Boys & Girls Clubs provide to youth
most in need during out-of-school-time. My.Future is part of BGCA's
Great Futures Campaign, launched in July to call attention to the
crisis facing kids and elevate the role of out-of-school time in
reversing negative trends and empowering more youth toward success
through enriching after-school and summer programs.
By partnering with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Comcast
NBCUniversal is harnessing the power of technology and the Internet
to expand digital literacy and help conquer the digital divide.
Since 2011, Comcast and the Comcast Foundation have dedicated more
than $200 million in cash and in-kind
support to fund digital readiness initiatives nationwide, reaching
more than 1.75 million people through non-profit, digital literacy
partners, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
According to STEMConnector.org, STEM jobs in the U.S. are
expected to grow nearly twice as fast as other fields by 2018.
There will be more than 8 million STEM jobs in the U.S. by 2018,
but 3 million of them may go unfilled because of a lack of people
with required skills. The project-based learning experiences that
are a part of My.Future will expose more young people to
STEM-related activities to help address this large, unmet need.
About Boys & Girls Clubs of Peninsula
BGCP
partners with schools and families to improve the full-year
academic experience of low-income K-12 students in the East Palo Alto, eastern Menlo Park, and Redwood City areas of the Peninsula through
expanded learning time programs. Our goal is to help
underprivileged students be on-track to graduate from high school,
ready for college and career.
In our communities, one-third of youth are not graduating from high
school, 60% of students are not proficient in English language
arts, and 50% are not proficient in math. BGCP is tackling our
community's drop-out crisis by strategically bringing together
schools, families, community-based organizations, government,
corporations, community, and volunteers. Over the past seven years,
90% of BGCP's school-site members graduated from high school with a
plan for post-secondary education or training.
We serve 1,800 students at nine different sites, offering small
group instruction and project-based activities with programs
tailored to grade level priorities in literacy and STEM. We also
provide case management for the students with the greatest academic
needs. Our programs enable three hours of extended learning time
every day during the school year and seven hours during the
summer. This totals 700 hours of instruction time per student
per year, the equivalent of an extra 100 school days.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq:
CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company with two
primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable
is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone
provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also
provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates news,
entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo
broadcast networks, television production operations, television
station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and
Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more
information.
About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation
was founded by Comcast Corporation in June
1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit
organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs
intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their
communities. The Foundation has three community investment
priorities—promoting service, expanding digital literacy, and
building tomorrow's leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast
Foundation has donated more than $153
million to organizations in the communities nationwide that
Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its
programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.
SOURCE Comcast Corporation