Scott McDonald (center) and his RE/MAX Gateway team played with former Redskins star Brian Mitchell (right) at the 2012 Challenge at Trump National.

We want to thank YouthQuest Foundation supporters like RE/MAX Gateway President Scott McDonald who have already registered for our annual fundraiser, The Challenge at Trump National Golf Club on August 12.

If you sign up and pay by the end of this month, you’ll get 10% off the price of any sponsorship level.

Click here for details and sign-up information.

Every year since 2006, we’ve brought golfers together to raise funds for programs that help America’s at-risk youth. This year, we want to double our numbers and fill both of the extraordinary Trump National courses that run along the river in Potomac Falls, Va.

Each sponsored foursome will be matched up with a celebrity player for a day of fun at a club few golfers ever get the chance to experience.

The event begins with an amusing and amazing trick shot demonstration by Brad Denton, Golfweek’s 2013 Golf Entertainer of the Year. Then the Challenge gets under way with a shotgun start. Lunch is served on the course and the day wraps up with a reception and awards ceremony.

To join Scott and our many other supporters at the tournament, contact us at info@youthquestfoundation.org or call (703) 234-6301. Act by May 31 and save 10%.

Cadets Vela, left, and Lewter use Moment of Inspiration modeling software to design a part for a 3D printing project.

Cadets at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy are the first to take part in our Fabrication Laboratory (Fab Lab) program.

The pilot project at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland introduces at-risk youth to the cutting-edge technology of additive manufacturing.

The Fab Lab program is sponsored by The YouthQuest Foundation and its strategic partners; 3D Systems, which provided the Cube 3D printers, and Triple Squid Software Design, which donated the Moment of Inspiration 3D modeling software. The class instructor is YouthQuest volunteer Tom Meeks.

Lynda Mann speaks about dropouts at the Vistage All-City conference in Tysons Corner, Va., April 25

YouthQuest Foundation Co-Founder and President Lynda Mann spoke to CEOs from the Washington, DC area on April 25 about how they can help at-risk youth.

Lynda’s presentation at the Vistage All-City conference in Tysons Corner, Va., outlined the scope of the nation’s chronic high school dropout problem and its costs for businesses, society and the teens themselves. She challenged business leaders to respond in four ways.

1. Review your Employee Assistance Program to make sure it addresses problems at home or at work that could cause family turmoil and lead a child to give up on school.
2. Review your educational assistance offerings to make sure employees have opportunities for continued learning. This improves employees’ work performance and confidence, and sends a message to their children about the importance of education.
3. Engage your local community by getting personally involved to understand issues, needs and opportunities in local schools. Hold one-on-one or small group meetings with potential dropouts.
4. Support skills training programs so teens who do drop out can learn a trade that will give them a chance to become productive citizens.

With the help of programs the YouthQuest Foundation supports, at-risk youth develop the vocational and life skills they need to fulfill their potential.

For more information about how you and your company can help address the dropout issue, please contact us at info@youthquestfoundation.org or call (703) 234-4633.

YouthQuest’s signature fundraiser is our annual golf tournament, The Challenge at Trump National. This year’s event will be on August 12 at the extraordinary Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C.

This is a rare chance to play a course few golfers get to experience while supporting our cause at the same time. Each sponsored foursome, their celebrity player and their fore-caddy will enjoy either the challenging Championship Course or the engaging River Course. Our goal is to fill both courses this year, so there’s plenty of room for you to join us as a sponsor or an individual golfer.

Click here for details and sign-up information.

In March 2011 YouthQuest awarded a $1000.00 scholarship to Alexei Cutting following his graduation from the Georgia, Fort Gordon Youth Challenge Academy. Read his award winning essay and view this video.

Cadet Cutting, Alexei
Platoon 4 A
January 26, 2011
Scholarship essay

Why I Deserve a Second Chance

My name is Alexei Cutting and this is my story. I was born in Russia. I had three older sisters that to this day, I do not know where they are, or if they are even alive. The first seven years of my life was a disaster. My dad left my mom when I was born; therefore she had to tend to me and my three sisters alone. My mom was beyond poor, she was destitute. I grew up being malnourished, so at the time, I looked like the Jews at the concentration camps. During my time in Russia, I never saw my dad. At the age of three, I had to witness my mom get her head almost split open. After I turned five, the government found out that my mom was not taking care of us, so the police took us away to a hospital to be taken care of. That didn’t last long for me. A couple of months later, I was separated from my sister and was sent to an orphanage in Moscow, where my life turned for the worse. Every day I had to fight for food. They only gave us little portions for each meal, so I was still on the verge of starvation. I had to beg for more food on the streets. I was also beat for things that I didn’t understand. They beat me with things like small bats, belts, heels, and numerous other items. I had to wear girl’s clothing because they could not provide everybody with boy’s. I also slept in beds that were cockroach infested. When I turned seven, my life got better. After I turned seven, I was sold on the computer, or using the proper term, “adopted”. My new mom and dad, Carrie and Rob Cutting, adopted me and introduced me to my new family. I was also introduced to my new older sister, Jennah. My new family was very rich, so I lived in the lap of luxury. Even though I was a rich kid, I was sad because my new dad never had the time to spend with me and I felt neglected. After I was adopted, we had a custom built home constructed for us. I also started to learn English. It only took me a year to learn and to this day, I speak it very fluently. I continue to think that I built such a strong hate for Russia and in the process, I totally lost my Russian accent. After I learned English, I started school. I started in the first grade. I failed second grade and was kept back. I was never good at school, so my older sister would always help me.

After two years, Rob Cutting divorced my mom. He became money hungry and sued my mom for every bit of her money. After that, we moved closer to my grandma up in Acworth. I continued to see Rob Cutting every other weekend, but I grew to dislike him and abandoned calling him “dad”. In my eyes, he didn’t act like one. After about a year I stopped seeing him, then I stopped talking to him. After that, my mom married another man, Victor Stringer. My mom changed her last name to his, but my sister and my last name stayed “Cutting”. I am in the process of changing my middle and last name to Victor’s middle and last name because I consider him more of a father than any one before. Before all that happened, I had failed six grade. My mom married Victor and we moved. I repeated six grade and passed. I continued on to high school at Harrison High. After living in Brookstone, for four years, I finished my first semester at Harrison, we moved again, this time to Marietta. There, we rented a small town home and I attended Marietta High. My sister had moved in with her new boyfriend, so she did not live with us anymore, although she still visited and spent the nights some times. To this day, I love my sister and our relationship is very strong. At Marietta, I finished my second semester with straight A’s and B’s. I did the best I ever did in high school. I met a couple of friends and started slacking off in sophomore year because I was too focused on my friends and video games. I passed every class with A’s and B’s except Math. I retook it during summer school and passed. During my time in summer school I had to witness my grandfather die. After I finished summer school, we moved down to stay with my grandma. Partly due to financial reasons and so my grandmother wouldn’t be alone.

During my time at Harrison, I attended the Navy JROTC and at Marietta I attended the Air Force JROTC. I fell in love with the military and my life’s dream was to become a pilot in the Air Force. When my mom told me that YCA could help me to achieve that dream, I started to get interested. She also told me that I could get my GED and that would put me right where I was supposed to be. I would erase the two years that I had lost by failing second and sixth grades. I thought it over. I hated school so much, that I agreed and came to YCA. I knew God had let me live and had given me a new family because I was supposed to make the world a better place. I was supposed to achieve something great. Youth Challenge helped me meet that goal. I want to join the Air Force and do something great in life. I plan to enroll in Georgia Military College, attend for four years and earn my Bachelor’s Degree. After that, I plan to get Lasik surgery and fly for the Air Force – to make a difference in the world. I want to help children and let them not go through the things that I went through. I believe I deserve a second chance because I CAN and WILL make a difference in the world. I want to help the world to be a better place and to help children fight for their freedom. I believe with a second chance, I could do that. That was my story…..and that was my reality!