Pittsburgh Media Mobilize in Support of The Promise

Pittsburgh Media Mobilize in Support of The Promise

PITTSBURGH, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The area's major television network affiliates, newspapers and an outdoor board company have joined together to advocate for community-wide support for The Pittsburgh Promise as a transformative educational and economic development initiative.

Media organizations are currently running public service ads featuring The Promise program's first year scholars, and promoting a specially-produced 30-minute television program called "Keeping the Promise" that will air simultaneously on all four Pittsburgh network affiliates on Tuesday, April 14, 2009, at 7:30 p.m.

Media organizations that are participating, to date, in this outreach effort include: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Trib Total Media, The New Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh Quarterly, Lamar Outdoor Advertising, FSN Pittsburgh, WTAE-TV, WQED-TV, WPXI-TV and KDKA-TV.

The Pittsburgh Promise program was established at The Pittsburgh Foundation in December 2007 with a $100 million commitment from UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), including an initial $10 million to support the 2008 graduates from the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The remaining $90 million is a challenge grant ($10 million a year for nine years), intended to spur support and contributions from all sections of the community to raise an additional $135 million ($15 million annually for nine years).

In its first year, the Promise awarded scholarships to nearly 750 graduates of Pittsburgh Public Schools' class of 2008 of up to $5,000 per student, per year. Beginning in 2012, scholarship awards increase to $10,000 per year for four years.

A key driver of this community-wide awareness effort, in particular, is the fact that The Promise must raise $15 million by June 30 to receive this year's full $10 million challenge element of UPMC's prior annual commitment to the program. In recent months, many of the region's foundations made multi-year investments in the Promise which has taken the fundraising total for the current academic year to nearly $11.5 million.

"We need to raise an additional $3.5 million to qualify for the full $10 million challenge grant," said Saleem Ghubril, Executive Director of The Pittsburgh Promise. "Our foundation community has been outstanding in its commitment to this vital program, and has played its part magnificently. But now we need the support of the businesses and general community to help with a final fundraising push to get us across

the finish line. The Promise represents hope, opportunity and transformation, not only for our children but for our region," added Ghubril. "This is a vital economic stimulus for the Pittsburgh region as well as making higher education a reality for our children and their families."

Source: The Pittsburgh Foundation

CONTACT: John Ellis of The Pittsburgh Foundation, +1-412-394-2647,
ellisj@pghfdn.org

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