The team at Lyons Industries, Inc. of Dowagiac has been fortunate to be deemed an essential business and they’ve been running full tilt ever since. Today, they have shared some of that strong success in a bid to continue their outstanding advocacy for the most vulnerable young people in the region.
Lance Lyons, President of Lyons Industries, Inc., already a strong advocate for building a youth talent pipeline, made that advocacy crystal clear today with a check for $10,000 for Jobs for Michigan’s Graduates. His personal experience with that program led him to award the crew with his donation today.
Lyons awarded the statewide program, headquartered with the Kinexus Group in Benton Harbor, $10,000 as part of a larger effort called #ProjectMIYouth, a fundraising effort to support Michigan’s most vulnerable youth as they have been heavily impacted by COVID-19. The project began earlier this week on May 5th with the goal to raise $100,000 in the next 90 days.
Lyons says, “We’re fortunate to be an essential business, running at full capacity and it’s important to share our success.” Jason Ortiz, a JMG participant that earned his GED from the Bridge Academy in Benton Harbor, secured a job at Lyons following his graduation, and Lyons says, “Jason is an asset to our team, a smart and hard worker. If I could have ten more like him, I would take them all! JMG is a great program and benefits both the graduates and the companies that hire them.”
The money raised in this campaign will support 3,280 youth across Michigan, including more than 778 youth here in Southwest Michigan. Austin Kuhl, current JMG participant at Dowagiac High School finds great value in the program, saying, “JMG has helped me be more outgoing and connect with others that are learning these skills, like me.”
Kristin Harrington, Executive Director of Youth Solutions, Inc, says, “We are thankful for people like Lance that genuinely believe in the work we are doing for Michigan’s most vulnerable youth,” and adds, “Our work is particularly critical at this unparalleled time of change. JMG has been largely state-funded throughout its operating history but can no longer count on this money due to the limited pool available for education and job training programs like ours. Donations like this one will allow us deepen our impact on the lives of those we serve and continue to lift this population from economic hardship into prosperity.”
This donation and the others that will come from #ProjectMIYouth give JMG the opportunity to impact more youth locally and across the state. Others interested in investing in the program and changing the lives of Michigan’s most vulnerable youth, can do so by visiting online at:
http://www.OurYouthSolutions.org/SupportJMG
Jobs for Michigan’s Graduates is the premiere program of Youth Solutions, Inc. a non-profit support system focused on sustainable and successful employment, education, and life skills. Since 2008, the program has lifted nearly 16,000 vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in Michigan from economic hardship to prosperity.
The program delivers employability and education services to over 3,200 young people across 40+ cities, including 778 young people in Southwest Michigan.
In the photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market, Austin Kuhl, current JMG student (left), receives the $10,000 check from Lance Lyons, President of Lyons Industries, Inc. (right). Photo courtesy of Kinexus Group.
