Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer accepted a $25,000 check from Bank of America’s Central Florida Market President & U.S. Trust Managing Director John Moskos on Thursday, on behalf of Parramore youths.
The $25,000 grant will go toward supporting the Parramore Kidz Zone (PKZ) Bank of America Summer Youth Employment Initiative. Specifically, it will be used to give high school and college students from the Parramore community early exposure to work opportunities and experience, which helps to foster critical leadership skills.
“We are very grateful to the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and their award of this grant to the Parramore Kidz Zone,” said Dyer. “These funds will help benefit some of Orlando’s most at-risk youths enrolled in the PKZ program and provide valuable job training and career exploration opportunities. Through partnerships like this one, our community continues to work together to make our City the best place anywhere to live, work and raise a family.”
“Teens have been disproportionally impacted by the recession with unemployment rates exceeding those of any other age group,” said Moskos. “Bank of America’s Summer Youth Employment Initiative helps address the challenges many teens face and provides an opportunity for more than just a paycheck by connecting them to meaningful work, helping develop marketable leadership skills and building their resumes.”
Currently, there are 31 Parramore youths employed in jobs in the community through PKZ’s Youth Employment Program, including Robertson Bassy, a sophomore at Morehouse College and a Parramore resident since he was in the first grade.
“The Parramore Kidz Zone has provided me with the opportunity to pursue so many of my dreams including being the first one in my family to attend college,” said Bassy. “PKZ’s Youth Employment Program continues to do even more for me, allowing me to work in a job where I can serve as a role model for other kids in the Parramore community encouraging them to focus on education and reach for their goals.”
