[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11036]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    ON THE OCCASION OF THE THIRTIETH ANNUAL METRO DETROIT YOUTH DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GARY C. PETERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 10, 2012

  Mr. PETERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to rise today to 
recognize the organizers, supporters and participants of the 30th 
annual Metro Detroit Youth Day.
  In 1982, Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young asked Mr. Ed Deeb to rise to 
the challenge of restoring relationships between the local business 
community and the youth of Detroit. From this need, Mr. Deeb, Mr. Tom 
Fox and the late Mr. Jerry Blocker founded Youth Day, an annual event 
which strengthened ties between Detroit business owners and youth. 
Under Mr. Deeb's leadership as chairman and coordinator of Youth Day, 
it has continued to grow and evolve into an event focused on nurturing 
the great potential of our youth and community support in the City of 
Detroit.
  Youth Day has grown from eleven hundred participants the first year 
to over thirty-seven thousand annually, with more than seven hundred 
thousand youth participants throughout its history. Of equal importance 
are the more than fifteen hundred annual volunteers who come from more 
than 320 organizations and 310 businesses and civic groups who 
supervise sports clinics, games, contests and many other activities 
that are a part of this daylong event.
  Youth Day's evolution included expanding its impact on participants, 
supporters and volunteers. As part of this expansion, Youth Day began 
to focus on providing youth with guidance, mentoring, substance abuse 
prevention and motivational activities designed to allow them to 
channel their creativity and ideas into positive outcomes, as well as 
provide the opportunity to pursue higher education. This year, 
participants will also have the opportunity to attend workshops on 
anti-bullying and obesity.
  To promote higher education, Youth Day began awarding participants 
with scholarships for youth who displayed outstanding citizenship, 
leadership and service. Since 1992, over seven hundred scholarships 
have been awarded to graduating high school seniors in Metro Detroit, 
and over eighty will be awarded this year. In addition to the 
scholarship awards, several colleges will have information booths at 
Youth Day to showcase opportunities for higher education.
  The fifty-person Youth Day Executive Board spearheads volunteer and 
event organization. Ed's vision speaks for itself, as Youth Day has 
been awarded numerous accolades including a Point of Light award from 
President George H.W. Bush and the Physical Fitness Award from the 
Governor's Council.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 30th 
annual Metro Detroit Youth Day and recognizing the organizers, 
supporters, volunteers and participants for working together to build a 
stronger future for Michigan youth in Metro Detroit.

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