Learning for Life

MDRT Foundation Gives Grant to Mt. Prospect-Based Learning for Life

The MDRT Foundation awarded a $2,500 grant to Mt. Prospect-based Learning for Life, a subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America, as part of the MDRT Foundation’s Corporate Citizen Grant program.

MDRT Member Marcus Newman presents MDRT's grant to Erin Bass of Learning for Life.

MDRT presented the grant to Learning for Life at their annual meeting on January 24, 2007, at the Boy Scouts of America–Northwest Suburban Council offices in Mt. Prospect. “Learning for Life makes a difference in the lives of many young people, and MDRT is truly honored and proud to be a part of making that difference,” said five-year MDRT member Marcus B. Newman of Bannockburn, Illinois, as he presented the grant.

Learning for Life supports schools and community-based organizations in their efforts to prepare youth to become responsible individuals by teaching positive character traits, career development, leadership, and life skills so they can make moral choices and achieve their full potential. "Learning for Life is proud to be a part of the process of equipping tomorrow's leaders to be persons of character and integrity,” said Erin Bass, coeducational program director for Learning for Life. The vision of Learning for Life is to be the foremost co-educational youth program for character and career development. The Learning for Life program of Chicago’s northwest suburbs impacts the lives of more than 5,500 youth annually.

The MDRT Foundation grant will specifically fund Learning for Life’s Champions and Transitions Program. This special-needs curriculum teaches youth with mental disabilities/challenges the life skills they need to achieve self-sufficiency. This program services 800 students annually in schools and organizations within Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Elk Grove, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Lake Zurich, Lincolnwood, Long Grove, Morton Grove, Mt. Prospect, Niles, Palatine, Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, Rosemont, Schaumburg, Schiller Park, Skokie and Wheeling.

The MDRT Foundation’s Corporate Citizen Grant Program formally began in 1999. Since then, the MDRT Foundation has established an annual budget to fund charities local to MDRT’s headquarters that exhibit corporate responsibility and the civic-mindedness of MDRT. Past grant recipients include the Center for Concern, Avenues to Independence, and the Park Ridge Juniors benefit for Lutheran General Hospital’s Emergency/Trauma Center and the First Step Foundation.