A convoy of canoes hit the Delaware River at dawn Wednesday to make the 28 mile trip from Camden to Wilmington. It’s the third straight year a group of volunteers has made the Paddle for Promise trek to raise money and awareness for an organization called Urban Promise.
Specifically, the money raised through sponsorships will support Urban Promise’s youth employment program, known as Street Leaders. Teens work at their first jobs and the organization gives them a stipend every two weeks.
Shandy Perez was once a street leader, and he says the teenage job training program turned his life around.
"UrbanPromise really allowed me to have a vision in life, to be able to go off to college, and they’ve supported me each and every way that they could," said Perez.
That support, Perez adds, came in the form of financial advice and academic support. As a street leader, he was tasked with providing a positive example to other kids in his Wilmington neighborhood.
Blair Althouse is the Vice Chair of Urban Promise’s Board of Directors. He spent hours Wednesday out on the water, rowing after rallying friends and family to sponsor his trip - and the program.
"I work for Chemours, a local company that just spun off from Dupont, and so a number of work colleagues are supporting me, and my mom and other friends," says Althouse.
The volunteers out on the water today hoped to raise $50,000 for the program, a $10,000 increase over last year’s goal.