TheTampa Bay Chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) in conjunction with ComputerMentors Group Inc, (CMG) andLives Under Construction (LUC) is planning its
first youth charity awards breakfast at the Tampa Intercontinental Hotel, Saturday, September 12, 2009. The event, to support the training and motivation of underprivileged Tampa Bay youth in computer technology, entrepreneurship and health and fitness, will include an appearance and keynote by a former Tampa Bay Bucs and Atlanta Falcons player. The former NFL star will give a personal account of his struggles as a child growing up in a single parent household and how faith, discipline and perseverance launched his 12-year NFL career. Proceeds of the event will go to benefit the participating non-profit organizations and to send a group of teenage youth to the Tampa Bay Tech Bowl and the 2010 BDPANational Conference to compete — using their learned computer and business skills — against other teens from around the country.”It’s an honor to be affiliated with the likes of BDPA, Lives Under Constructionand others who want to impact and encourage youths toward excellence,” said Ralph Smith, Executive Director for CMG. Each year CMG and BDPA reach over 100 students and their parents through its technology, life skills and business training programs. “The 15 high school students that just completed our four month training program permitted us to send a team to represent the Greater Tampa Bay Area at the national BDPA High School Computer Competition earlier this month. We could not have been prouder of the students and the support we received of companies such as The Nielsen Company, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, APEX Digital Imaging and O’Brien Management Services, noted Tampa BDPA president, Frank Shines. Tampa Bay BDPAis a non-profit professional association which advances diversity in technology and business by providing training, development, networking and motivation toundeservedcommunities. Its vision is “advancing careers, from classroom to boardroom.”
Lives Under Construction, Inc. is a non-profit organization which uses youth sports as a platform for building character, discipline and focus oncommunityservice.