Davie, Fla. (Aug. 2nd, 2018) – The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank America’s Most Convenient Bank™, provided Firewall Centers with a generous $2,500 grant to help provide 500 at-risk youth with daily tutoring and mentoring services across 9 Broward County Public Schools.
Firewall Centers’ T.H.I.N.K. Leadership Program is a school-based program that provides students from 3rd through 12th grades with daily tutoring and mentoring, a point-based incentive system, an integrated curriculum that includes a financial education component, and community service opportunities. Program participants are low-income and come from minority families.
“The Firewall program helps students see that with the right help and support system together with their own hard work, they can break the cycle of poverty and reach their greatest potential,” said Janeth Fernandez, Firewall Centers’ Chief Program Director, “and we are grateful for this new partnership with the TD Charitable Foundation to make this happen for more youth across Broward County.”
“TD enthusiastically supports the work of Firewall Centers in helping to break the cycle of poverty for young people,” said Pablo J. Pino, TD Market President for South Florida. This contribution supports TD’s longstanding commitment to community enrichment through its newly launched Ready Commitment, a multi-year platform that actively promotes inclusivity, economic vitality, environmental wellbeing and health, enabling people of all backgrounds to succeed in a rapidly changing world.
For its middle and high school students (6th through 12th graders), Firewall partners with local bankers who visit each of Firewall’s schools various times during the school year to provide financial education classes that cover important topics such as saving, banking, and budgeting.
In addition, a point-based incentive system is used daily. This system not only motivates students to attend the program, behave well, and complete their homework, but it serves in providing financial education as students receive a “paycheck” each week that is deposited into their “checking account.” They can either spend this paycheck on special treats or delay gratification and save for bigger prizes. They can choose to put their paycheck into a “CD,” which at the end of the school year, can be used for gift cards. Once Firewall students enter high school, points allow them to accumulate up to $125 per high school year towards a Firewall-funded college or vocational school scholarship.
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-Firewall Centers-
About Firewall Centers
Firewall was established in 2003 in response to the death of a thirteen year old girl who overdosed on drugs while left unsupervised during after-school hours. Ever since, the agency has been operating daily after-school tutoring and mentoring centers for at-risk students that instill character values and promote academic success, supporting them as they strive toward their greatest potential. For the 2018//2019 school year, Firewall’s T.H.I.N.K. Leadership program has nine Centers and is serving 500 Broward county students. The program’s overarching objective is to improve performance outcomes among at-risk students as related to their school attendance, behavior, and course performance, thus helping them to ultimately achieve self-sufficiency as they pursue their life goals. You can learn more about Firewall Centers and how you can get involved at www.firewallcenters.org or follow them at www.facebook.com/firewallcenters
-TD Charitable Foundation-
About the TD Charitable Foundation
The TD Charitable Foundation is the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, one of the 10 largest commercial banking organizations in the United States. Since its inception in 2002, the Foundation has distributed more than $193.8 million and more than 19,000 grants in charitable donations from Maine to Florida. The Foundation’s mission aligns with The Ready Commitment, a new multi-year program that TD launched in March 2018 to help individuals and communities prosper. As part of The Ready Commitment, TD targets CDN $1 billion (US $775 million) in total by 2030 towards community giving in four areas critical to opening doors for an inclusive tomorrow – Financial Security, a more Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. Through The Ready Commitment, TD’s aspiration is to link business, products, services, and community giving to help people feel more confident – not just about their finances, but about their future and their ability to achieve their personal goals in a changing world. For further information, visit TD.com/thereadycommitment. More information on the TD Charitable Foundation, including the online grant application, is available at TDBank.com.
