
June, 2010 (Event planned |
The National Youth Leadership Summit will be held Friday, September 10th - Sunday, September 12th at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in DC. This event is sponsored by the HHS Healthy Relationships/Healthy Marriage grant. An expert guest speaker panel and a video presentation from "Look Before You Leap" is planned. There will also be a dance for leadership students on Saturday night. Some topics to be addressed at the summit include: Benefits of Healthy Relationships and Marriage, Drugs and Alcohol, Dating Violence, and AIDs and STDs. Contact Robin Williams at (202) 478-9677 for details. |
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| February 2nd, 2010 | Landmark research published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine proves abstinence education effective |
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| January 30th, 2010 (Event planned for May 13th, 2010) |
The 2010 Foundation Annual Fundraising Event will be held Thursday evening May 13th at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC. Please contact Ann Goldsmith at (202) 478-9685 for sponsorship and ticket information |
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January 29th, 2010 |
Best Friends staff referenced on The World Over with Raymond Arroyo radio program |
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January 26th, 2010 |
Best Friends on Laura Ingraham |
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September 11-13, 2009 |
The 2009 Best Friends Foundation |
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July 16th, 2009 |
Best Friends on Bennett Mornings |
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| June 5th, 2009 |
The 2009 Foundation Annual Fundraising Event "Make Music Not Madness" was held Friday evening June 5th at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC. Attendees, donors and distinguished guests enjoyed a heartwarming evening of great music, dining and dancing to benefit our DC students. Best Friends celebrates 22 years of programs that "Make Music Not Madness." The Best Friends Foundation expresses our heartfelt appreciation to all who attended and donated to benefit our services to youth. We especially wish to thank these donors: |
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March 30, 2009
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Best Friends on Fox News—The O'Reilly Factor Elayne Bennett, President and Founder of the Best Friends Foundation, appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on the FOX News Channel on Monday, March 30, 2009 at 8:00 pm EST (repeated at 11 pm EST) to discuss the youth development and character education.
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February 22, 2009
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Best Friends Health is Happiness Day For additional Health is Happiness Day Information contact:
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February 20-22, 2009 |
Best Friends Foundation National Training Conference Marriott Wardman Park Hotel 2660 Woodley Road, NW Washington, DC 20015 For additonal Training Conference and Luncheon information contact: Ann Goldsmith at 202-478-9677 agoldsmith@bestfriendsfoundation.org |
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December 13, 2008 ![]() |
Holiday Party Sponsored by the DC Young Men’s Leadership Team, the fifth annual holiday event brought smiles to the faces of all who attended. Special guest Bishop Martin D. Holley of the Archdiocese of Washington DC commended the young people for their hard work and spirit of service and expressed his gratitude to those who “gave so generously of their time and effort to provide such joy and hope to the young children.” |
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September 5-7, 2008![]() |
2008 Best Friends Foundation National Youth Leadership Summit was held Friday, September 5th through Sunday, September 7th at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. On Saturday, a luncheon and panel discussion with distinguished guests was led by Elayne Bennett and Carol Platt Liebau, author of Prude: How The Sex Obsessed Culture Damages Girls. This is the 3rd year of our Stop the Madness panel on the importance of healthy relationships and prevention of alcohol and drug use, sex, and violence among adolescents. The panel included community leaders from the Metro D.C. area who share a concern for today’s youth. The panel discussion was followed by a production of Make Music Not Madness, which aims to promote among our youth “music” activities which enrich, inspire and uplift instead of “madness” activities which degrade, depress and lead to danger. See more information. |
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May 9, 2008 |
2008 Foundation Annual Fundraising Event was held Friday evening May 9th at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. Entertainers were Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. (original members of the 5th Dimension), The Drifters and Chuck Brown. Donors and guests enjoyed dinner, dancing and fun at what has been called "Washington's best party." The Foundation is very grateful to all donors and guests for their generosity and attendance. See a .pdf file with pictures/info from the event. |
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November 9,2007 |
Best Friends on Fox News—The O'Reilly Factor Elayne Bennett, President and Founder of the Best Friends Foundation, appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on the FOX News Channel on Friday, November 9 at 8:00 pm EST (repeated at 11 pm EST) to discuss the Best Friends Foundation programs. |
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Washington, DC – Youth and adult mentors from Washington, DC and across the nation participated in the Best Friends Foundation’s third annual National Youth Leadership Summit – Today’s Leaders, Tomorrow’s Future at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, July 22-25, 2007. Over 150 youth leaders attended this national leadership summit to hear from presenters and engage in discussions that address the current state of youth. Each youth leader gained a greater knowledge on how to avoid violence, drugs, alcohol and premarital sex, as well as listened to presentations on college/career prep and financial planning. Summit Highlights: “Stop The Madness,” panel discussion. Experts discussed issues and solutions regarding adolescent risk behavior. Panelists included The Honorable Robert Flores, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Dr. David Murray, Chief Scientist for Counter-Drug Technology Assessment Center, Office of National Drug Control Policy; Jose Dominguez, Director of Grants Administration, DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation; Tyrone C. Parker, Co-founder and Executive Director of Alliance for Concerned Men; Beverly Watts Davis, Senior Advisor on Substance Abuse Policy, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); and Seth Leibsohn, Producer of William Bennett’s “Morning In America” radio show. Best Friends Foundation Founder and President, Elayne Bennett, served as moderator. Best Friends Foundation’s student musical production, “Make Music Not Madness,” with special guest appearance by acclaimed singer and actress Melba Moore, most recognized for making history as Luttiebelle in the Broadway production “Purlie,” and becoming the first black actress to win a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress. |
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May 11, 2007 20th Anniversary |
Washington, DC - Marriott Wardman Park Hotel . This ceremony recognized the achievements of the DC Best Friends, Diamond Girls Leadership, Best Men and Best Men Leadership and the dedication of their school principals, coordinators, parents and teacher mentors. Guest speakers were Will A. Gunn, President and CEO Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington and George Sanker, Principal Hope Community Charter School. The audience was treated to special performances from Make Music Not Madness. DC 2007 Essay Winners:
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| April 27, 2007 "Rockin' at The Ritz" Annual Fundraising Event |
Foundation Annual Fundraising Event -"Rockin' at The Ritz" was held on Friday evening April 27th, 2007 at The Ritz Carlton Hotel, Washington, DC. Performers this year were Fabian, Jerry Butler, Barbara Lewis and Bobby Vee & The Vees.
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March 4th, 2006
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"Do You Remember When Rock Was Young?" Annual event was held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. At the Best Friends Foundation’s annual fundraiser philanthropist Foster Friess and his wife Lynn announced a million dollar match offer to the audience. They extended the match for monies raised by the Foundation until The March 4th fundraiser event audience of students and dignitaries was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Special guests included Mayor Anthony Williams, Senator George Allen, Susan Allen, Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, Andrea Steele, Representative Roy Blunt, Ambassador Van Eenennaam of the Netherlands, Ambassador Jim Nicholson, Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation, Gail Norton, Secretary of the Interior, Jim Kimsey, Fred and Marlene Malek, Jack Evans, John McLaughlin, Morton Kondracke and William Bennett, former Secretary of Education. Students from the Best Friends, Best Men, Diamond Girl Leadership, and Best Men Leadership Programs featured their musical talents in a special performance with Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge of “We Are Family” and “Let’s Hear it for the Boys.” The students’ performance “brought down the house.” The Best Men boys step drill and drum line was awe-inspiring and led to the generous match offer. Three Dog Night appropriately concluded the truly joyous evening with their hit “Joy to the World.” All proceeds from the event went to support the Best Friends Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. |
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| August, 2005 | Best
Friends clothing sent to Hurricane Katrina victims 440 Best Friends T-shirts were sent to the Salvation Army to be used for the victims of Hurricane Katrina who were evacuated to the Houston Astrodome disaster shelter. The Foundation expresses it's deepest sympathies and concern for the victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who suffered tremendous loss during this tragedy. |
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July
28-30 , 2005 |
Best
Friends Foundation Youth Leadership Summit
and
National Youth Summit |
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| April 29, 2005 |
Mona
Charen's article "Abstaining on abstinence data" appeared
in THE WASHINGTON TIMES. See
the article online. Mona Charen
is a syndicated columnist and political analyst living in the Washington,
D.C. area. She launched her syndicated column in 1987 and it has become
one of the fastest growing columns in the industry. It is featured in
more than 200 papers, including the Boston Globe, the Baltimore Sun, the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution and the
Washington Times. She spent 6 years as a regular commentator on CNN's
"Capital Gang" and "Capital Gang Sunday," and has served as a judge of
the Pulitzer Prizes. |
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| April 28, 2005 | "Abstinence
program shows results" article by
Cheryl Wetzstein published in THE WASHINGTON TIMES.
See
the article online. Ms.
Wetzstein's article was also
about the study of the Best Friends
program by
Robert Lerner,
Ph.D.,
published in the Journal
of Adolescent and Family Health. |
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| April 27, 2005 |
Major
study release on Adolescent Abstinence
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April 2, 2005
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"Do
You Remember When Rock Was Young?" See Out and About "Best Friends: A Beacon of Hop" in the Washington Post and "Best Friends Foundation Gala" in Washington Life magazine.
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APRIL 23, 2004
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Elayne
Bennett, David Robinson Recipients of 2004 Simon Foundation Prizes
The Prize for Social Entrepreneurship, along with a cash award of $250,000, is being presented to Ms. Bennett, who is founder and president of the Best Friends Foundation located in Washington, D.C. She is widely respected for development of in-school programs that not only help adolescents understand the risks of, but abstain from, drugs, sex and alcohol use. First offered in 1987 to a class of sixth-grade girls in Washington, D. C., the Best Friends program today is conducted in more than 100 schools in 26 cities and in 15 states, as well as in Washington, D. C. and the Virgin Islands. In 2000, the work was expanded to include boys, who since then have been taking part in Best Men mentoring programs in five cities. On average, the Foundation serves approximately 5,000 girls and 1,000 boys and has generated impressive results. Research has shown that compared to their peers, among Best Men boys, drug use was 33 percent lower and sexual activity declined 20 percent. Among Best Friend girls, alcohol use declined 30 percent, and 40 percent of program participants stopped using drugs altogether. David Robinson, two-time NBA World Champion, is receiving the Prize in Philanthropic Leadership. Famous for his achievements with the San Antonio Spurs, Mr. Robinson is being honored for his many contributions to his community. The recognition includes a gift of $250,000 to the charity of his choice. In 1992, David and his wife, Valerie, created the David Robinson Foundation to benefit community programs that meet the physical and spiritual needs of families primarily in their adopted hometown of San Antonio. Considered the single largest gift made by a professional athlete, the Robinsons donated more than $9 million to create The Carver Academy in downtown San Antonio. The project opened in 2001 and benefits many low-income, at-risk students. The school offers elementary-age children a challenging academic program featuring small classes, leadership opportunities and a nurturing family-like environment based on Judeo-Christian scripture. Named for African-American botanist and educator George Washington Carver, Robinson's hope for the school is that Carver graduates return and reinvest in the community. For more information, visit www.thecarveracademy.org. The Simon Prizes were inaugurated in 2001, as part of the Foundation's efforts to further the legacy of its namesake, who was Secretary of the U.S. Treasury from 1974 to 1977. William E. Simon, Jr. says that the Simon Prizes underscore an important aspect of his late father's life. "My father firmly believed that one person could make a profound difference in the lives of others, and through this prize program which he hoped to make a kind of Nobel Prize in philanthropy and entreprenurship he wanted to inspire others to create and support programs that help people to help themselves." |
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