Dr. Hillard Lackey tells the Naked Truth: Bush cuts out NYSP on 211 campuses

 Message From the President, Your Strategies Include
 Tips for NYSP Visits, Sample Letter, State-by-State Listing
 2005 State Coordinators, Past Supporters of NYSP

Dear Lord why don't "Christians" agree on fundamental truths?

HOME HTML
FIND OUT ALL THE TOP NEWS

BIZ DIRECTORY
CONTACT INFO ON COMPANIES ON THE MOVE

CONTACT
CONTACT EU WITH ANY QUESTIONS

MORE MUSIC
R&B  HIP-HOP AND MORE

MESSAGE BOARD
CONTACT EU WITH ANY QUESTIONS

EU SERVICES
ONLINE, ON THE STREET,  HARDCOPY MAGAZINE

HOME FLASH
FIND OUT ALL THE TOP NEWS

HOME HTML
FIND OUT ALL THE TOP NEWS

BIZ DIRECTORY
CONTACT INFO ON COMPANIES ON THE MOVE

CONTACT
CONTACT EU WITH ANY QUESTIONS

MORE MUSIC
R&B  HIP-HOP AND MORE

MESSAGE BOARD
CONTACT EU WITH ANY QUESTIONS

EU SERVICES
ONLINE, ON THE STREET,  HARDCOPY MAGAZINE

HOME FLASH
FIND OUT ALL THE TOP NEWS

HOME HTML
FIND OUT ALL THE TOP NEWS

BIZ DIRECTORY
CONTACT INFO ON COMPANIES ON THE MOVE

CONTACT
CONTACT EU WITH ANY QUESTIONS

MORE MUSIC
R&B  HIP-HOP AND MORE

MESSAGE BOARD
CONTACT EU WITH ANY QUESTIONS

EU SERVICES
ONLINE, ON THE STREET,  HARDCOPY MAGAZINE

      I have recently returned from an emergency funding strategy session in Washington, D.C., after having learned that NYSP is in the biggest fight in its 37-year history. THE PRESIDENT'S 2006 BUDGET HAS COMPLETELY ELIMINATED FUNDING FOR NYSP, AND WE HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME TO CORRECT THIS. In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Congress has a mere 32 days for the House and Senate budget committees to report a budget resolution by March 21. The two versions then go to Conference for reconciliation April 1-15. We must be included in the House and Senate budget resolutions!!

      During the session, we developed a four-week strategy as follows to ensure Congress restores full funding in the FY06 budget for NYSP:

      Week of February 21: (Congress has scheduled President's Day District Work period)

      NYSP institutions contact Congressional District offices and U.S. Congressional offices to secure commitment to restore full funding.

     Week of February 28:
      Institutions continue to contact Congressional District and U.S. Congressional offices. State coordinators report to Rochelle Taylor at the NYSC office on activities in their state by March 4.
     Week of March 7:
Selected state coordinators visit Capitol Hill.
     Week of March 14:
NYSP participants visit Capitol Hill to follow-up with U.S. Congressional offices.
     March 21: Target date to finalize House and Senate FY06 budget recommendations.
      We need your help in saving the National Youth Sports Program and restoring funding. The Administration's FY06 budget proposes the total elimination of NYSP. NYSP has served communities for 37 years; with the proposed elimination, we will no longer be able to offer services for our children and our communities.
      We need you to fight on behalf of our over 75,000 children and their families. Please help us with the following strategies to ensure NYSP is rewritten in the 2006 budget. We are functioning in an Emergency Mode due to the short budget turnaround time. Please note the President issued the FY06 budget February 11 and the initial budget cycle in the House and Senate is targeted to be complete March 21st!!!!

 Your Strategies Include:
 1. Make a face-to-face visit by March 4 to your District congressional office requesting full funding ($18 million) in the FY06 budget for NYSP. Please take an NYSP participant(s) with you.
 2. Send emails and/or faxes to your U.S. Congressional office requesting full funding ($18 million) in the FY06 budget for NYSP.
3. Utilize your Advisory Committee to email and/or fax by March 4 to your District congressional office and U.S. congressional office (Washington, D.C.) to restore full funding ($18 million) in the FY06 budget for NYSP.
 4. Utilize your NYSP staff to email and/or fax by March 4 to your District congressional office and U.S. congressional office (Washington, D.C.) to restore full funding ($18 million) in the FY06 budget for NYSP.
5. Notify parents, community leaders and all supporters to inform them we need their help to email and/or fax your District congressional office and U.S. congressional office (Washington, D.C.) to ensure their support to restore full funding ($18 million) in the FY06 budget for NYSP.
6. Notify your state coordinator by March 4 to report your responses. A list of state coordinators is included in this newsletter.

  Tips for NYSP Visits
 TIPS FOR YOUR NYSP SUPPORT VISITS
 In-Person Visits
 ? Identify key personnel in the District and U.S. Congressional offices*.
 ? Secure email and fax numbers for District and U.S. Congressional offices.
 ? Set-aside time to visit the District offices before February 25th. Make appointment if necessary, but constituents are always able to walk in.
 ? Strength is in numbers! Identify and invite as many NYSP supporters as possible to accompany you. This should include parents, former participants, community supporters, faith-based staff, public school staffers, NYSP staffers and certainly your advisory Board members. If they are not available to attend with you, they should be encouraged to attend anytime before March 4.
 ? NYSP participants are a must! Participants can share personal stories about how NYSP has affected their life and the lives of their peers.
 ? Take pictures, videos (CD's and DVD's) and other materials that can help tell the NYSP story at your campus. The goal is to personalize the effectiveness of NYSP in your community. While national statistics are good, stick to telling about the local impact.
? Create a program fact sheet for your project: Number of participants, including breakdown of boys and girls; number of physicals administered, with some information about number of health conditions identified; number of meals served; community resources; number of returnees; information about staff including volunteers and former participants in the program. Make sure you identify the number of years the program, has been in operation.
 ? A specific question to ask during your meeting: Can we count on you for your specific support to restore our funding, ($18 million) in the HHS budget? We anticipate a Dear Colleague letter being circulated before March 21. We need to know that your representative will sign on.
 Email and Faxes to District and US Congressional Offices
 ? Strength is in numbers. Elected officials need to know voters in their communities support NYSP and want them to support NYSP.
? Personal testimonies speaking to the impact of NYSP to their family and community can be emailed and faxed.
 ? Include address of person writing so representatives understand these are their constituents.
 
 ? A statement as brief as follows can be used:

 "I support restoring funding NYSP because in our community it has provided critical services to our children and our community. Please support restoring NYSP funds in the HHS 2006 budget. The negative impact of losing this program on our community will be huge; our children will be without critical summer services if this program is eliminated. We need you as our elected official to support our community youth, specifically to restore funding of $18 million for NYSP."
 Knowledge Points
? A point of discussion to clarify is that NYSP is a competitive grant: There is a five-year grant funding period for each competitive cycle.
 ? NYSP does have both qualitative and quantitative measures in place. For example: our program guidelines provide long-range outcomes and objectives and operating standards to address, finance, overall administration and programmatic assessment measures. Each community has individual program outcome measures to meet the needs of its youth.
 ? We begin planting the seed of higher education, healthy lifestyles and good citizenship at an early age (age 10). We introduce the college environment to youth for 10 to 16 year olds. We support the educational system through our Educational Enrichment component (required daily).
 ? We provide children with the opportunity of participating for seven years of mentorship and leadership in a community of higher education.
 ? We are a sports skill instructional program, teaching lifesaving (water-safety) and life skills (attributes of sport that transfer to lessons of life).
 ? NYSP is funded in the HHS budget.

 Each state that has at least one (1) NYSP project has a person from one of the sites that serves as that state's "State Coordinator." The State Coordinator provides a valuable communication link between the NYSP national office and individual projects. Nowhere is this link more important than in the annual effort to secure funding for NYSP.
 To find the State Coordinator in your state, click here.
  Past Supporters of NYSP
We have created a document  that aligns your institution with the Congressperson representing that district. The last column on this document indicates whether or not the Congressional Representative signed the 2004 Dear Colleague Letter. If the word YES appears in this column, we can't afford to have this individual not support us again this year. Remind the staff aide whom you speak with that their boss has supported NYSP in the past.
 If the last column on this document is empty, this indicates that the representative from your institution's district did not sign in 2004. We need to make every attempt (fax/call/email) to communicate what NYSP means to the children and families in your community.
 Go to www.house.gov  to obtain the contact information for your Congressional Representative. Once you are at this website, type in the zip code for your institution and the name of your Representative will appear. Click on their name and you will immediately be connected to their web page.
 A list of U.S. Senators that supported NYSP in 2004 can be found by going to www.Senate.gov .
 Remember: Volume is the key! Get the youth, their families, faculty and respected members of your community to take 5 minutes out of their day to support your NYSP Project!
 201 South Capitol Avenue, Ste 710, Indianapolis, IN 46225
 P: 317-829-5777 / F: 317-829-5779 
 The National Youth Sports Program is administrated by the National Youth Sports Corporation. >

by Thompkins, Toby

Everything Underground

Everything Underground's Media Column Read more
By Ron Wynn

The Eye of the tiger

Everything Underground