$700K Donation Will Fund A Thousand Summer Jobs For Detroit Teens
DETROIT (WWJ) - It'll be some summer fun earning money for hundreds of Detroit teens - thanks to a $700,000 donation from Wayne County to the city's Grow Detroit's Youth Talent program.
"And this $700,000 is not from the Wayne County general fund," says Rich Kaufman with Wayne County. "We have done a lot to try to solve Wayne County financial problems -- while we are solving those financial problems - we continue to recognize we are a government that needs to do all we can to help our community and where is that more important than with 'at risk' youth?"
The money will go towards hiring 1,000 at risk young people who receive assistance through the County's Juvenile Prevention services. Thursday's donation was also matched bringing the total to $1.4 million.
"I think we are ready for around 700-800 kids - we have a few weeks to raise the last of the money, but we one-way or the other we'll make 8,000," said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan who was on hand to accept the donation.
In total, the city of Detroit plans to employ 8,000 teens this summer.