Mount Vernon's "Favorite Son" Comes Home!

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Mayor Young and Denzel Washington hold press conference in support of Save Our Sports program
Oscar Winning Actor Denzel Washington joined Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton I. Young, Jr. at City Hall to support the Save Our Sports initiative. A press conference was held Tuesday, August 26th at Mount Vernon City Hall to draw attention to the need to preserve school sports programs. Earlier this month, Mr. Washington donated $100,000 of his own money to SOS.
William Hurt, a member of the soul-singing group The Delfonics and a Philadelphia native, also plans to help. The Grammy Award-winner, who attended the press conference, said he was touched by the students' plight and was working with the mayor to put together a celebrity golf tournament for November.
“Denzel Washington has a long history in the City of Mount Vernon. When I brought the plight of our students to his attention, Denzel immediately wanted to help. The $100,000 he donated to SOS was a catalyst for additional resources that lead to the restoration of fall sports. The City of Mount Vernon is extremely grateful to Denzel Washington for his incessant dedication to our young people.”
Mayor Clinton Young and several other city officials thanked Washington for his donation and said the effort has raised about $329,000, which includes Washington's contribution. The amount was enough to save the fall sports program, but an additional $630,000 needs to be raised for winter and spring sports, officials said.
“Our children are our most important resource, and like any other resource, they need to be taken seriously and handled with care,” said Denzel Washington. “They deserve all of the tools necessary to succeed in life…sports is one of these tools. There is no greater success that our generation can lay claim to than to be able to say that we didn’t let our young people down.”
Last month, Mayor Young announced a main fundraising initiative within Save Our Sports that will call upon 5,000 individuals to give $100 to save our athletics program in Mount Vernon. All contributions are 100% tax deductible.