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Jul 6, 2006

CHALLENGE SPOTLIGHT: MONTANA YOUTH CHALLENGE PROGRAM

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Cadets and the staff of Montana’s Youth ChalleNGe Program (MYCP) finished up the residency portion of the program with a bang by running a 127-mile relay to benefit veterans and their families. 

Select cadets and staff from the MYCP took turns running mile-long legs for as much as 15 miles each throughout the day on Friday, June 9, 2006.  Runners started out in Dillon, Mont., at 5 a.m. and ran the final 400 yards of the race together in Helena.  The cadets and staff were greeted by a large crowd of veterans and their families, as well as members of the Helena Fire Department and representatives from the office of Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.

The program took on the grueling run to help fund the Helena-based Liberty House, which is being built for veterans’ families in need of a place to stay when their loved ones are hospitalized.  To date, the cadets have raised more than $3,200 for the Liberty House.

In addition to the 17-hour run, cadets from this class have spent more than 3,200 hours volunteering in nursing homes, cleaning up highways and assisting with food drives.  In all, 39 Montana non-profit organizations have benefited from the cadets’ services.

“Years from now, the cadets will be able to look back and have a tremendous appreciation for all they have accomplished in the ChalleNGe program,” said MYCP representative Jacqi McKnight. 

The Montana program is located on the University of Montana-Western campus.  Program organizers and the cadets have worked hard to ensure a strong working relationship with the campus, which allows them the use of the university’s cafeteria, and to reap the benefits of having tutors that live directly on campus.

“The community here in Dillon, Mont., has really embraced the program.  The residents have enjoyed seeing the cadets turn their lives around,” McKnight said.

Cadets each year benefit from the Montana’s beautiful natural parkland landscape during a week-long camping trip where they participate in confidence-building activities.

Started on September 1, 1999, the Montana program graduated its 1,000th member this June when a class of 65 finished up the residential portion of the program on June 17, 2006.  McKnight noted that the program would like to expand in future years, given that the Montana Youth ChalleNGe Program currently reaches only about one percent of Montana’s high school dropouts.