Bridges Student Wins National Award!

Bridges to a Brighter Future student and Greenville High School & Academy graduate, Damaris Taylor received the Yoshiyama Award for Exemplary Service to the Community on October 14, 2008 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

I traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the awards luncheon. It was a joyous occasion as Damaris' mother Tameka was able to attend as well. Through the luck of the draw, we were all seated at the head table with Japan's Ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki, Dr. and Mrs. Tsutomu Kanai (pictured above on the right), the Honorary Chairman of The Hitachi Foundation and Chairman of the Board and Director of Hitachi, Ltd, Barbara Dyer, the President and CEO of The Hitachi Foundation, and Dr. Bruce Maclaury (pictured above on the left), Chairman of the Board of The Hitachi Foundation. It was so rewarding to observe Damaris interacting with these noteworthy individuals. He communicated with such ease, professionalism, and enthusiasm. He is truly a gifted young man!

Damaris was awarded the Yoshiyama Award for his work in creating and implementing the Raider Diversity Retreat. In addition to team building and challenging rope course exercises, the three-day retreat also included candid discussions designed to generate easy to implement solutions to break down barriers in the students' high school and community.

Over 250 students were nominated for the Yoshiyama Award. Damaris was one of only ten students selected as finalist. The award is funded by the Hitachi Foundation and is named for Hirokichi Yoshiyama, the former President & CEO of Hitachi, Ltd.

Of course the highlight for Damaris' mother and I was to see Damaris accept his award and give his acceptance speech. Below is the video of Damaris being introduced by Denise Terrazas, a 2007 Yoshiyama Award winner and his awe-inspiring speech.

Bridges Family a Part of the United Way of Greenville Campaign

Bridges student, Jamie Williams and her family are part of the 2008 United Way of Greenville Campaign! Each year, a select number of individuals or families are selected to serve as spokespeople for the United Way. In addition to being a part of Bridges to a Brighter Future, Jamie and her family received assistance from the Greenville Area Inter-Faith Hospitality Network, also known as GAIHN and Jamie also participates in another United Way funded program through the Phyllis Wheatly Community Center. Jamie is a wonderful young woman! She is a student at J.L. Mann High School and we are very proud of her!

Bridges Students Go to Adventure Camp!

Through a partnership with Clemson University's Youth Learning Institute (YLI) and the Cliff's Communities, 12 Bridges students received the opportunity of a lifetime to participate in a ten day Adventure Camp! In the late Winter, YLI approached Bridges to continue a partnership already established with The Cliff's Communities to utilize Pinnacle Falls Camp, a beautiful mountain camp near Rocky Bottom, SC. The partnership included scheduling an Adventure Camp solely for Bridges students and providing team building for the Bridges counselors.

One day after the four-week Bridges program ended, I drove the lucky group of 12 students up to Pinnacle Falls camp. The group was familiar with Pinnacle Falls, as this is the location of our highly regarded Fourth of July celebration. The students really did not know what they were getting into. Being a person who spends time in the outdoors, I don't know if I would have even committed to spending seven days in the woods! However, I knew that they would be able to overcome any challenge they would encounter! They are Bridges students!

After seven days, I went back to get the students and they ran to the van they were so excited to see me! They were even more excited to tell me about the life-changing experience they received through Adventure Camp! Once they left Pinnacle Falls after a day of training, they mountain biked, canoed, and hiked for seven days! When asked what part they liked the most, they said, "all of it." The YLI staff was exceptional! They took time and care to teach, lead, and nurture our Bridges students through the experience. I was most impressed when the students told me that they repelled down a waterfall! How cool is that?

This opportunity was made possible by YLI providing a 1/2 scholarship for each student and generous donors providing support through Bridges to a Brighter Future. They wonderful staff at Clemson's YLI have issued a press release recently published online through The Greenville News. We hope to continue this partnership next year.

In addition, we are working toward expanding post-Bridges opportunities for our wonderful students. We have a partnership with Furman's Science Department through a Howard Hughes grant to provide paid research opportunities next summer to Bridges students (more to come on this). We also hope to implement an entrepreneurial expansion next summer as well.