Chicago Skyway Donates $10,000 to YMCA’s Urban Warrior Project and $20,000 in Grants to Neighborhood Chicago Public Schools
CHICAGO (PRWEB) December 19, 2017 -- Skyway Concession Company (SCC), operators of the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge (Chicago Skyway), kicked off the 2017 Holiday season with a show appreciation for military veterans who are mentoring youth in some of Chicago’s most violent communities. SCC donated $10,000 to the YMCA’s Urban Warrior Program. The program, part of the YMCA’s Youth Safety and Violence Prevention initiative, teams veteran mentors with youth traumatized by violence in their communities. In the process of helping these youth to heal, veteran mentors find that they are better able to cope with their own trauma.
“The Urban Warrior Program is doing much-needed work in local Chicago neighborhoods. This program is helping these young people learn to cope with the effects of violence in a healthy way. By giving of themselves as mentors, our returning veterans are in turn healing from their own traumatic experiences, while they transition back to civilian life in the community,” said CEO Fernando Redondo, “We are honored to support the Urban Warrior Program so the YMCA and its dedicated veteran volunteers can continue their important work. They are leading by example to help break the cycle of violence in our neighborhoods.”
In addition to its support of the Urban Warrior Program, SCC continued its tradition of awarding local neighborhood public schools with $2,500 to $5,000 grants to help schools address student unique needs. The selected schools were nominated by local elected representatives from the four wards surrounding the Chicago Skyway - the 7th, 8th, 10th and 20th wards. This year, the grant money will be used to purchase new conflict resolution educational software, school spirit materials, and a variety of prize incentives for student achievement and parent participation.
About the Chicago Skyway:
Built by the City of Chicago in 1958, the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge is a 7.8-mile-long toll road that connects the Indiana Toll Road to the Dan Ryan Expressway on Chicago's South Side. The main feature of the Skyway is a 1⁄2-mile-long steel truss bridge, known as the "High Bridge." The bridge itself spans the Calumet River and Calumet Harbor, a major harbor for industrial ships – its main span extends 650 feet long and provides for 125 feet of vertical clearance.
The City of Chicago maintained and operated the Chicago Skyway until January 2005 when Skyway Concession Company assumed those responsibilities pursuant to a 99-year lease. The lease agreement between Skyway and the City of Chicago was the first privatization of an existing toll road in the United States.
Avis LaVelle, A. LaVelle Consulting Srvs., http://www.alavelleconsulting.com, +1 312 402 2171, [email protected]
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