Thanks For Your Support!

It's been a busy 5 weeks since I first posted here seeking internship hosts for PENCIL's 200 Fellows.  I'm happy to report that thanks to many of you who stepped up after reading the original post, all of our PENCIL Fellows were placed in paid internships for the summer.  On June 29th, Fellows kicked off the summer with an intensive orientation, followed on June 30th with PENCIL's inaugural BOSS FOR A DAY (BFAD) event.  Our Fellows got an inside look at over a dozen NYC organizations, including A+E Networks, HealthPlus Amerigroup, JetBlue, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Himmel + Meringoff Properties LLC, Ogilvy & Mather, RXR Realty, VH1 Save The Music Foundation, NYU, International Council of Shopping Centers, Arup, NY1, and WABC-TV, as well as the offices of the Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer and the New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fari?a.

Our BFAD hosts were generous with their time and compliments, all of which made this fantastic event possible.  We also garnered some excellent media attention surrounding the day:

• FOX5NY covered the event at PENCIL Partner A+E Networks. Click here to watch!
• NY1 also covered the event in both English and Spanish, which is great for many of our students and families. Click here to watch in English and click here to watch in Spanish!
• Dave Weiner, PENCIL's President, spoke with Jim Powers on 1010WINS about the importance of BFAD. Click here to listen!

• My9 Chasing News played both host to a Fellow and covered the day. Click here to watch the story!

The PENCIL Fellows started their internships on Monday, July 6 and we hosted a 20th Anniversary party for the PENCIL network’s school leaders, business partners, mentors and volunteers on Wednesday, July 8.  It was great to see so many people committed to helping students fulfill their full potential!

In honor of PENCIL’s 20th Anniversary I am challenging myself to help NYC students reach their full potential by participating in PENCIL’s 20/20 Challenge to raise funds to support PENCIL’s important programming. If 20 people donate just $20, I’ll reach my goal of raising $400. Will you be one of my 20? You can easily contribute by donating to my fundraising page or clicking here! 

Thanks!

Gregg