Mentor-Student Relationships Helping Fight the U.S. Dropout Crisis; Potential to Save the Country $8 Billion Annually
Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) and Communities In Schools (CIS)
today kicked off the second annual GIVE Education School the Nation
campaign designed to increase awareness of Americas dropout crisis, and
enable thousands of mentors across the country to support and encourage
at-risk youth to graduate to a brighter future. Mentors play a critical
role in determining the lifetime success of a child. A recent surveyi
commissioned by GIVE Education found that two-thirds (66 percent) of
those who had a mentor while growing up earn more than $75K annually,
and of this group all (99 percent) agree that their mentor played a big
role in shaping who they are today. By contrast, nearly half (44
percent) of those who did not have a mentor while growing up earn $25K
or less annually, and the majority (59 percent) of this group do not
have a college degree. Campaign spokesperson, Matthew McConaughey, and
his just keep livin foundation (j.k. livin) are one of 15,0000
community organizations that CIS has partnered with to channel
much-needed resources to children who are at the greatest risk of
dropping out.
More than 1.2 million students drop out each year one every 26
seconds. One-third of high school students, including half of all
students of color, fail to graduate in time. If the graduation rates and
college matriculation of male students (alone) increased by just five
percent, it could lead to combined savings and revenue of almost $8
billion each year by reducing crime-related costs.
Consumers can easily help School the Nation when they Buy, Give and
Get. By simply purchasing $25 worth of select P&G products, consumers
will get a $5 rebate by mail, and P&G will give $5 to CIS on their
behalf. In addition, for each August 26 P&G brandSAVER coupon redeemed,
P&G will donate two cents to CIS,
uncapped allowing people to give back, while saving money. Last year,
GIVE Education raised more than $500 thousand for CIS to help deliver
much needed resources to students and their families, including
mentoring, tutoring, individual or family counseling, health services,
food bank access, college visits and more.
By providing consumers the opportunity to help keep kids in school and
achieve in life, we are making the communities in which we work and live
prosper, said Karen Kei Schlosser, P&G North America, assistant
director of U.S. Operations. P&G is committed to improving life for
children around the world. GIVE Education enables P&G to touch lives by
bringing together the power of P&G’s education commitment and reach, and
CIS’ innovative programs.
We are grateful to P&G GIVE Education for its efforts in enabling CIS
to touch and impact even more of our nations youth, said Dan
Cardinali, president, CIS. For more than 30 years, CIS has been
effectively helping students stay in school and succeed in life. We are
the only dropout prevention organization proven to both reduce dropout
rates and increase graduation rates, with 97 percent of students
monitored as potential dropouts who remained in school.
CIS empowers students to stay in school and achieve in life by providing
them with crucial community resources that are tailored to local needs
through school-based mentors known as site coordinators. The thousands
of mentors within CIS network work with 2,700 schools and approximately
13,000 community partners including j.k. livin to serve nearly 1.25
million young people and their families every year.
McConaughey founded j.k. livin with the goal of empowering high school
students in inner-city schools to lead active lives and make healthy
choices to become great men and women. Serving more than 1,500 students
in 14 schools, the after-school program encourages students to improve
their physical and mental health through exercises, teamwork, gratitude
and positive life choices.
I created the j.k. livin so we can help children make positive and
healthy changes in themselves and the world around them and at the
most basic level for many, that starts with graduating high school,
said McConaughey. I am a firm believer in the power and necessity of
mentorship, and by teaming with GIVE Education, were ensuring that
people learn about the inspiring and effective work mentors are doing
across the country to combat the dropout crisis.
To learn more information about the rebate, including participating
brands and how to redeem, visit www.getgivesave.com.
For additional campaign information, visit GIVE Education on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pgmygive.
Consumers can share content to encourage friends and family to learn
more about the dropout crisis, and inspire others to get involved. To
learn more about the national dropout crisis, visit www.communitiesinschools.org.
GIVE Education is part of the P&G GIVE program, a social sustainability
platform designed to inspire and enable people to use their everyday
purchases to touch lives and improve life.
About P&G GIVE
P&G GIVE is a social sustainability platform designed to inspire and
enable people to use their everyday purchases to touch lives and improve
life. GIVE embodies P&Gs deep commitment to social responsibility and
is designed to touch lives and improve life through three pillars: GIVE
Hope, GIVE Health and GIVE Education. Each pillar is tied to the P&G
brandSAVER, where donations from each coupon redeemed are made to a
charity partner, making it simple for consumers to give back without
having to spend a lot of time or money. By enabling consumers to address
critical social issues affecting our communities, GIVE helps P&G fulfill
its purpose of touching and improving lives, now and for generations to
come.
About Communities In Schools
Communities In Schools (CIS) is one of the nations leading dropout
prevention organizations, and one that is proven to increase graduation
rates and decrease dropout rates. CIS surrounds students with a
community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in
life. Through a school-based coordinator, CIS connects students and
their families to critical community resources, tailored to local needs.
Working in more than 2,700 schools in the most challenged communities,
in 25 states and the District of Columbia, CIS focuses its activities in
the most disadvantaged districts, serving nearly 1.25 million young
people and their families every year. Please visit www.communitiesinschools.org
to learn more about CIS.
About just keep livin
The just keep livin foundation was started by Matthew and Camila
McConaughey with the hope of encouraging children to make positive and
healthy changes in themselves and the world around them. Their work
starts with the idea that each child will benefit given the opportunity
for a healthy lifestyle. The foundation works with schools throughout
the United States and in other parts of the world to reach the maximum
number of children with the greatest needs.
About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves approximately 4.4 billion people around the world with its
brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted,
quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®,
Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Fairy®, Gain®, Pringles®,
Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head
& Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, Braun®, Fusion®, Ace®, Febreze®, Ambi
Pur®, SK-II®, and Vicks®. The P&G community includes operations in about
80 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com
for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.
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Ipsos Telephone Express omnibus poll conducted March
9-12, 2012 with a nationally representative sample of 1,002
randomly-selected adults aged 18 and over residing in the U.S., with a
±3.1 percentage margin of error. These data were weighted to ensure the
sample’s regional and age/gender composition reflects that of the actual
U.S. population according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
