Sen. John Edwards coming to Tallahassee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2005
CONTACTS: David Ginsberg/Jenni Lee 202-449-7601
EDWARDS TO ENCOURAGE YOUNG PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED WITH FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY

Washington, DC - In an effort to get more young people involved in the fight against poverty, Senator John Edwards will travel to ten schools across the country in October to launch Project Opportunity, a new student-led effort to encourage young people to make the elimination of poverty the cause of their generation."In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we have a historic opportunity. The country is hungry for change and we do not have to live in an America that accepts poverty as a fact of life or chooses to ignore it," Edwards said. "At so many critical moments in our nation's history, it has been our young people who have made a difference, and that's why I am asking them to join me and their peers in making the eradication of poverty the cause of this generation."

Senator Edwards will travel to the following schools on the following dates as a part of Project Opportunity:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, October 17
University of Missouri at Columbia, October 18
Yale University, October 19
Harvard University, October 20
Dartmouth College, October 21
University of Texas at Austin, October 24
University of California at Berkeley, October 25
University of Wisconsin at Madison, October 26
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, October 27
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, October 28

The goal of Project Opportunity is twofold: to get more young people involved in their communities and to encourage young people to advocate and promote policies that expand opportunity. Students will challenge their peers to take the Project Opportunity pledge and commit to 20 hours of community service per semester, to press for policy solutions at the local and national level, and to work with colleges and universities to maximize their impact in the fight against poverty. The Project Opportunity chapters were formed this summer and each chapter is adopting a community service project in their area. To learn more about Project Opportunity, please visit www.projectopportunity.org.

Project Opportunity is a project of the Center for Promise and Opportunity. The Center for Promise and Opportunity is dedicated to exploring new ways to expand opportunity and realize the promise of our country for all Americans. Its mission encompasses much more than just proposing ideas - it will lead efforts to build public support for change, and will serve as an incubator for solutions, conducting real-world trials. Edwards is the honorary chair of the Center for Promise and Opportunity. To learn more about the Center for Promise and Opportunity, please visit www.promiseandopportunity.com.

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Currently Senator Edwards is scheduled to speak at 12 Noon in the Grand Ballroom. The doors are scheduled to be opened at 11:00 AM, and the event is not planned to be ticketed. Now this is still subject to some change, but I wanted to make sure everyone had a heads up.