“As a company that believes in supporting the achievement of young people with great potential but limited resources, Merrill Lynch is pleased to assist these outstanding graduates of the Youth ChalleNGe Program in pursuing four-year college degrees. What makes the Youth ChalleNGe Program unique is its dual focus on academic and life skills. It not only helps young men and women to achieve their academic goals, but also requires them to demonstrate the self-discipline, tenacity and self-respect needed to become responsible and productive citizens.” - FVP Eddy Bayardelle, Global Philanthropy & Community Relations at Merrill Lynch.

The Wal-Mart Foundation and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. awarded a grant of $252,000 to fund Vocational/Technical Training for Youth Challenge graduates.  All 35 Youth Challenge programs will present two $1,800 scholarships twice a year for a total of four scholarships per program.  Graduates will use their scholarships to attain job skills in areas as diverse as food service management and culinary arts, to welding, bricklaying and building trades specializations to information systems technology, website design, and business/administrative support technology.