03-02-12 McDonough Mayor Presents Proclamation to Youth Vision Builders Honoring 1st Year Anniversary

McDonough Mayor Presents Proclamation to
Youth Vision Builders Honoring First Year Anniversary

On Wednesday, February 29th, Mayor Billy Copeland attended the first anniversary celebration honoring, Youth Vision Builders. a local mentoring program. The event was held at the McDonough Housing Authority facility located on Simpson Street. Everyone gathered to recognize the accomplishments that have occurred during this first year, but more than that, to celebrate the 20 plus youngsters, ages 10-20, who benefit from this non-profit program.

The Mayor complimented the co-founders of this program, Willie Brown and Levester Sims, for their hard work and dedication to the youth of this area. “The bad thing is, I didn’t know about this program until two or three weeks ago,” said Mayor Copeland as he addressed those gathered. He went on to say, “But 697 will know about it tomorrow!” He explained that it would go on his Facebook the next morning. This statement brought a thunderous applause and shouts of agreement from the audience.

Mayor Copeland congratulated this mentoring program on the outstanding job they are doing in this community and expressed his pride in the children who are participating. The Mayor ended his comments by reading and presenting a proclamation from the City of McDonough to this program and stated that it would be introduced at the next City Council meeting to be included in the minutes of that meeting.

The guest speaker for this occasion, Henry County Sheriff Keith McBrayer, also expressed his appreciation for this effort and encouraged the young people in this program to stay with it. He noted that approximately 12,000 people go through the county jail annually. He explained that most of those were there because they did not make good decisions. “Maybe it was just one bad decision, maybe it was a lot of bad decisions,” said the Sheriff. “But, guys, you can overcome anything you need to overcome. I really believe that. You are on the right track now.” He went on to say that these youngsters have great potential and further encouraged them to continue listening to these mentors involved with this program and to stay away from those around them who might be doing wrong.

A large cake awaited everyone present following the speeches and presentations. For more information on Youth Vision Builders, call 770-288-2836.

Mayor Billy Copeland addresses those gathered to celebrate
the one year anniversary of Youth Vision Builders, a local mentoring program.
He presented the program with a proclamation proclaiming
February 29, 2012 as Youth Vision Builders Day in McDonough.

The participating youngsters posed with the staff, mentors
and special guests Mayor Billy Copeland (Back Center) and
Sheriff Keith McBrayer (Back, Fourth from Right) for pictures.