Honoring the County of Napa's If Given a Chance Program - Extensions of Remarks

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the valuable and tremendous work of the Napa County organization, If Given A Chance. For two decades, this group has provided scholarships and resilient high school graduates to overcome extraordinary challenges and troubled pasts.

Since 1995, the If Given A Chance program has provided young people that have faced tremendous difficulties the opportunity to continue their education after high school and gain the work experience they need to succeed. With support from local businesses and philanthropic organizations, the program awards more than $100,000 in scholarships, and graduates have gone on to get Masters and Ph.D. degrees at schools such as UCLA, UC Davis, and Stanford University.

If Given A Chance has supported hundreds of Napa Valley students in their efforts to pursue college and vocational education. The remarkable young people that participate in If Given a Chance have overcome gang affiliation, addiction, injury, abuse and disease, and this program provides them the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families. If Given A Chance is a testament to the significant and positive impact young people can have on their communities, and a true demonstration of the qualities that make our country great.

Many have worked tirelessly to ensure the success of If Given A Chance, and none more-so than Jim King, the program's founder. His legacy continues, and the board of directors has continued the tradition of exceptional work in support of Napa County's youth.

Mr. Speaker, If Given A Chance has helped to engage and support so many students in the Napa community. I celebrate them for devoting themselves to the success of the next generation and wish them good fortune in their next twenty years of service.

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