2.5 Million Hours of Service to Community and Country
Smith Barney Sponsors and Serves on City Year Opening Day
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September 26, 2008 – At spirited Opening Day ceremonies across the country, more than 1465 young leaders are pledging to serve children and communities nationwide as the 2008-2009 City Year corps. These men and women from all backgrounds will, together, serve nearly 2.5 million hours to community and country, and embody the City Year tagline “give a year. change the world.”
As citizen service gains momentum nationally – including the recent statements of support from Senators John McCain and Barack Obama at the Presidential Forum on Service on 9/11 – each of these young leaders is making a difference by serving 1,700 hours as tutors, mentors, and role models, who also lead transformative physical service.
City Year celebrates the start of its 20th year with the launch of its newest site in Miami, and with the largest corps in its history. “Across the country, young people will pledge to serve their community, nation and world as City Year corps members. I am inspired by the can-do idealism of the City Year corps, and deeply grateful to Smith Barney for sponsoring all our opening day ceremonies nationwide,” said City Year CEO and co-founder Michael Brown. “This is a powerful launch for a year dedicated to making a transformational impact on the lives of thousands of children.”
“Smith Barney is honored to partner with City Year through our own service and also by our sponsorship of Opening Day,” said Craig Pfeiffer, Smith Barney Executive Vice President. “Today's event kicks off an extraordinary year of service that will make a difference in the lives of countless children, transform communities and improve neighborhoods across the United States.”
As part of Opening Day, the young City Year leaders immediately act on their commitment by engaging citizens and hundreds Smith Barney employees in service projects. Across the country, Americans from all walks of life are joining together on the common ground of service to paint murals, landscape parks and renovate community centers.
With the support and dedication of partners such as Smith Barney – and National Leadership Sponsors Aramark, Bank of America, Cisco Foundation, Comcast, CSX, Pepperidge Farm, Pepsi, Timberland and T-Mobile – City Year is celebrating its 20th year of service.
The 18 Opening Day ceremonies and service events across the country are among more than 2,500 events in all 50 states that are ServiceNation’s Day of Action. City Year is one of four lead organizers of ServiceNation, which is a coalition of 110 organizations that has a collective reach of some 100 million Americans and is dedicated to strengthening America’s democracy and solving problems through national service. The Day of Action is an organized opportunity for thousands of Americans to express their support for a dramatic expansion of service by organizing events throughout the day.
The 1,450 corps members serving in the United States join 200 young people already in service in South Africa – where the service year is underway. They follow in the footsteps of the 11,400 alumni who have served more than 1 million children during 18 million hours of service as City Year corps members since 1988. And as they “give a year. change the world.,” they will make their own history in the lives of children, and the national service movement.
City Year unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, giving them the skills and opportunities to change the world. As tutors, mentors, and role models, these young leaders make a difference in the lives of children and transform schools and neighborhoods across the United States and in South Africa. City Year is a proud member of AmeriCorps. For more information, please visit www.cityyear.org
Smith Barney is a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (Member SIPC). It is a leading provider of comprehensive financial planning and advisory services to high net worth investors, institutions, corporations and private businesses, governments and foundations. With approximately 14,600 financial advisors in nearly 800 offices, Smith Barney offers a full suite of investment services, including asset allocation, private investments and lending services, hedge funds, cash and portfolio management, as well as retirement, education and estate planning. Smith Barney currently has more than 9.2 million client accounts, representing $1,482 billion in client assets. For more information, please visit www.smithbarney.com
CONTACTS:
Alison Franklin, City Year, 617-927-2612
Mark Costiglio, Smith Barney, 212-559-2178