ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Fred VanVleet’s Family Foundation is donating $36,000 to help Rockford-area students get exposure to college.
Wabongo Leadership Council and the VanVleet Family Foundation hosted a press conference on Friday to announce the inititative, at the Guysie Jenkins Resource Center on Clifton Avenue.
The money will go toward Wabongo’s annual college tour, which will take students on a tour of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) such as Alabama A&M University, Stillman College, Talladega College, and Tuskegee University.
The goal of the program is to interest students in higher education and provide “cultural and historical enrichment opportunities.”
Joshua Patterson, president of the Wabongo Leadership Council, said, “We are very intentional about grouping them into small groups, so that way, when we’re on the tour we do large group activities, but we also break them into small groups and that’s when they are with their small group coaches that are focused on their career goals.”
This will be Wabongo’s 6th college tour, which will begin next week.
It will only cost each student $575.