Ford employees and dealers
lace up their walking
shoes each year and join
Chicago’s Global Walk
Team for the Juvenile
Diabetes Research
Foundation (JDRF) Walk to
Cure Diabetes. Ford Motor
Company raises more money for JDRF nationally than any other
corporate sponsor.
Sharpening the skills of
teenage drivers will make
driving safer for all of
us. That’s why the State
of Illinois has teamed up
with Ford’s award-winning
Driving Skills for Life program on Operation Teen Safe Driving.
Area schools are developing safe driving campaigns and Ford is
funding driver training as part of this statewide effort.
Another Ford truck is ready for loading to
help feed the hungry in Illinois. Ford has
provided more than 60 trucks to help
America’s Second Harvest distribute
food in Illinois and across a nationwide
network of food pantries, soup kitchens
and emergency shelters. Based in
Chicago, America’s Second Harvest is
the leading hunger relief organization in the United States.
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Ford’s commitment to
education is having
a powerful impact on
Chicago area residents
of all ages. Ford Motor
Company Fund and
its local partners
are transforming a
100-year old power plant into a charter school named Henry
Ford Academy: Power House High. The new 9-12 academy in
the urban North Lawndale community is scheduled to open in
August 2008 with 120 ninth grade students and will eventually
reach 460 students. The academic curriculum will emphasize
the use of green building features to enhance lessons on the
environment, clean technologies and sustainability.
Ford Partnership for Advanced
Studies (Ford PAS) is helping
Chicago-area high schools provide
students with a challenging,
real-world education that
will give them an advantage in
the workplace of tomorrow. This
innovative program – which touches 17,000 students in 25
states nationwide – connects high schools with colleges and
businesses to promote future success for students.
"Tots on Tuesday" is one of the
most popular family programs at the
John G. Shedd Aquarium. For the
past five years, Ford has been the
sole sponsor of this public education
program that offers a full day of
activities for children ages 3-5.
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Ford’s support also extends to After
School Matters, a nonprofit capable
of serving 28,000 Chicago teens with
hands-on programs that help them
develop marketable job skills. With Ford’s
assistance, The Youth Enrichment Program
at El Valor serves 320 youth in the
Pilsen community. The program is based
on a preventative model that begins to work with disadvantaged
children at a young age to build critical, strong academic foundations
for future learning. Newspapers in Education reached
90,000 students last year in the Chicago Southland community
with Ford’s help, and the Midtown Education Foundation (MEF)
targets academically challenged children in poorer Chicago
neighborhoods. A remarkable 89 percent of MEF alumni went on
to college and 98 percent graduated from high school.
At the entrance to Ford’s
Chicago Assembly Plant stands
the Ford UAW Training Center.
This facility will open the door
to future jobs by training Ford
UAW employees in robotics and
high technology manufacturing.
The center will also be available for use by the community.
Sustainable design will be the
focus of the Ford Calumet
Environmental Center. Ford
Motor Company Fund provided
the City of Chicago with a $6
million grant toward construction
and programming for this state-of-the-art center that
features 140 acres of wetlands, natural habitat and environmental
exhibits.
The Friends of the Parks program
is sponsored by Ford as part of
National Public Lands Day. Ford
is committed to protecting our
local environment and more than
1,000 volunteers annually come
together to clean up Chicago’s
beaches, parks and playgrounds.
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