FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Susanne Hackett, 202.297.2218
December 21, 2001 Meghan Ray, 202.414.4774

Steve Boyd, 202-441-0442

LOCAL LEADER/ TEACHER CARRIES OLYMPIC TORCH AS IT PASSES THROUGH ANACOSTIA

Susie Kay, Founder and President of Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund, Bears Torch On First Leg of its D.C. Journey

Washington, DC – The Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund (HDSF) announced today that Founder and President Susie Kay, will carry the Olympic Torch through Anacostia, where she has taught in the DC public schools for over 10 years and where many of her 100% African American students and scholarship recipients learn and live.

On Friday, December 21, 2001 at 2:20 p.m. on Good Hope Road from 24^th to Naylor Road, SE, Susie Kay, a 5’2” dynamo, will carry the torch on behalf of her students and the many diverse DC area communities that she brings together through scholarship and mentoring programs.

“I am honored to carry this torch for all the hardworking D.C. public high school students we work with and on behalf of all those volunteers, sponsors and mentors that have enabled Hoop Dreams to make an impact,” Kay said. “Through their own sense of hope and determination, these students carry the torch every day and go on to college, making a brighter tomorrow for themselves and for our whole community.”

Susie Kay was chosen for this honor by Coca-Cola because of her efforts leading volunteers and supporters to help mentor and send hundreds of D.C. public high school students to college. Inspired by her students’ perseverance and frustrated at seeing too many dreams fall short because of lack of resources and finances, Kay founded the Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund, in 1996. HDSFS is an organization that works to raise academic college scholarships for hardworking inner city Washington, D.C. public high school students.

To date, HDSF has awarded nearly 600 academic college scholarships, totaling more than $1.6 million. Leading this effort, Kay has built HDSF’s three programs: college preparation mentoring, internship and scholarship so they simultaneously work to build bridges between diverse communities in our nations capitol. Working predominantly with African American students who live and go to high school east of the Anacostia River, most participants in HDSF mentoring and scholarships will be the first in their family to attend college.

Through all of its programs and community events, HDSF offers a unique opportunity for all parts of the Washington business community to come together and enrich their own lives by working with local public high school students. In addition to these core programs, the effort also provides a Princeton Review SAT college prep program. Ultimately, HDSF strives to build unity along ethnic and socio-economic lines.

HDSF calls on all of us to unite as we support young people in their journey to make the most of shaping their own dreams. For more information on HDSF (www.hoopdreams.org) or to arrange an interview with Founder and President, Susie Kay, please call Susanne Hackett at 202.297.2218 or Meghan Ray at 202.414.4774 or Steve Boyd 202.441.0442.