CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Excelling in the classroom, on the court and giving her best on the field and volunteering in her community, LC Bird sophomore Camille Martin has a game plan for success.
Faith and family keep her on task. Camille says a big boost, however, comes from a college prep and workforce development program she was selected for called Partnership for the Future.
“I really enjoy the program because it is helping me prepare for college and is getting me ready for new work-life experiences and expanding my horizons,” she added.
President and CEO Charleita Richardson says Partnership for The Future (PFF) is designed to provide high achieving students like Camille the fuel they need to reach their goals. They offer job training skills, paid internships, assistance with college applications, financial aid and scholarships.
Richardson says they can’t do it alone.
Their biggest need now to help the 82 PFF students is for more local businesses to come on board and participate in their 7-week internship program.
“We are in need of 30 internship sites starting in June and we need to secure them by April, ideally,” Richardson said.
She is very proud of the achievements PFF students have made. In total, students have earned more than 51 million dollars in scholarships since the program began 26 years ago.
Students also perform more than 1300 hours of community service annually.
Richardson says 87 percent of students in the program are first generation college attendees.
That’s why Richardson says maintaining a strong support network for students once they graduate high school and go to college is so important.
“It allows students to have the opportunity to refocus and maybe ask the questions that they’ve never been able to ask. They explore opportunities and it opens up networks for them,” Richardson says.
That’s a comforting thought for Camille and many of the other PFF students who say this is more than an educational program.
It’s a second family for them. Supporters to cheer them along the way as they prepare to step into their future, ready to make a difference in this world.
Richardson says once all of the internship opportunities are assigned to the students, they’ll have an event in May to introduce the students to their future employers.
Richardson says the seven-week paid internship is about a $3,000 investment made by the company.
Business that might like to participate in the program is encouraged to contact Charleita Richardson at 804-967-2559. For more information, click here.
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