During
the past decade, the Joe Yukica -- New Hampshire Chapter's
Scholar-Athlete Program has grown steadily. During this
period, 200 high school scholar-athletes from nearly 40
New Hampshire communities have been honored.
In the past, support for the
Scholar-Athlete Program has come from membership dues and
ticket sales for the Scholar-Athlete Awards Dinner that
annually attracts capacity gathering at The Yard banquet
facility in Manchester.
The Scholar-Athlete Program
has grown over the years and the only limitation on the
chapter's ability to annually recognize as many deserving
student-athletes as possible comes down to a basic fact:
the need for additional funds to support this worthy
program.
That's why the New Hampshire
Chapter has established the Business Partners Program.
We want to avoid increasing ticket prices for the dinner (the
principal source of funding to date). At the same time,
just as high school and other amateur football programs grow
and merit support from the Foundation through the Awards
Dinner and other programs, the Scholar-Athlete Program is
growing. Currently, there are 55 schools in New
Hampshire with football programs.
During its early years, the
Chapter annually honored 7 student-athletes. To honor
these student-athletes, the Chapter makes a donation of
several hundred dollars to each student's high school or prep
school. Because there are so many worthy students to
consider, the number of honorees grew to 14 in 2006, and that
number will continue to grow.
We believe that the solution
to meeting our goal of increased support for the
Scholar-Athlete Program and amateur football in New Hampshire
is through the Business Partners Program.
The Joe Yukica--New Hampshire
Chapter has set a goal to raise $10,000 annually from
businesses in New Hampshire through the Business Partners
Program.
