Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Pubdate: 21 Apr 1998
Author: Zachary R. Dowdy, Globe Staff

POWELL'S YOUTH CORPS ON THE MARCH

Retired General Colin Powell's latest mission, to marshal a national corps
of volunteers to quell drug wars in central cities, check the advance of
teenage pregnancy, and rout out despair among youth, is far from done, he
says, but is showing progress.

A year after the launch of ''America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth,''
Powell, the program's chairman, visited Fenway Park to help area youngsters
from the Boys and Girls Club throw the first pitch at the Red Sox game
against the Cleveland Indians, and to pitch an ''evangelical'' effort to
save America's troubled kids.  ''The ultimate measure of success will be
seen 10 years from now,'' Powell said. ''If there are fewer young girls
getting pregnant, fewer kids in gangs, that's how we measure success. I
believe we can do this.''

Powell's visit was one of several stops the retired general is making to
note the progress of the massive volunteer effort that urges adults to get
involved in the lives of youths.  His multicity tour includes stops in
Nevada, California, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Utah, and New
York.

Acting Governor Paul Cellucci, who touted the steps Massachusetts has taken
in the six months that the state's program has been operating, said the
program - Massachusetts Promise - is gaining in popularity: The number of
mentors has increased, internships have multiplied, and after-school
programs have spread. And crime is dipping.

Powell said 48 of the nation's 50 states to date have established the
infrastructure to implement America's Promise. The five-pronged program
seeks to improve the lives of children by providing them with mentors, safe
places, a healthy start to life, marketable skills, and community-service
opportunities to give something back.  America's Promise, which was set into
motion in Philadelphia last April at the President's Summit for America's
Future, targets the issues plaguing the country's 15 million at-risk
children with hopes of bettering them by the year 2000.  The program
harnesses the resources of the public and private sectors, such as
individuals and corporations, and funnels them into programs such as the
Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and the Boy
Scouts and Girl Scouts. 

Massachusetts Promise reports the following developments in the past six
months: Matches with mentors are up 95 percent; new after-school programs
were born; nearly 22,000 children received health insurance; internships
have increased by 122 percent; and 172,000 young people are now serving 120
communities across the state - 86 percent of the state program's goal.