Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway Presented with National Recreation Foundation's 2012 Robert W. Crawford Achievement Prize

Conaway Honored for Decades of Work with Troubled Youth

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a reception at the Maryland Club in Baltimore, Md. on Thursday, November 8th, Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway, Former Chief of the National Guard Bureau and Chairman of the National Guard Youth Foundation's Board of Directors, was presented with the National Recreation Foundation's 2012 Robert W. Crawford Achievement Prize in recognition for his many years of service to troubled and disadvantaged youth across the country.

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"We give the Robert W. Crawford Achievement Prize, in honor of my father's work, to someone who embodies a lifetime of commitment to kids at risk and it's a real privilege to be here and present this award to General Conaway," said Robert W. Crawford, Jr., who presented the award on behalf of the National Recreation Foundation.

"It's an honor to receive an award named after Robert Crawford, who saw a need to actively engage at-risk youth and improve their quality of life," said Gen. Conaway. "I've visited many prisons and 85 percent of the individuals incarcerated are high school dropouts. We've got to stop this trend and that's what the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program is doing."

"There wouldn't be a Youth ChalleNGe Program and there wouldn't be a National Guard Youth Foundation without General Conaway," said Gail Dady, President, National Guard Youth Foundation Board of Directors. "He has touched the lives of more than 115,000 teens who had dropped out of school and had nowhere else to go. General Conaway has truly dedicated most of his life to youth in need and it is very gratifying to see him receive this recognition." 

Lt. Gen. Conaway was instrumental in the implementation of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, which has intervened in the lives of more than 115,000 troubled teens, helping them earn a high school diploma or GED and giving them a chance to turn their lives around. Since 1993, Lt. Gen. Conaway has helped launch numerous Youth ChalleNGe Program sites and has donated tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship funds for ChalleNGe graduates. Lt. Gen. Conaway has also been a leading visionary for the National Guard Youth Foundation, the 501(c)3 that supports the Youth ChalleNGe Program. Lt. Gen. Conaway has also been actively involved in the Chi Chi Rodriguez Foundation and the STARBASE Program, both of which serve underprivileged and underserved youth.

The National Recreation Foundation focuses its support on programs that impact youth who are economically, physically or mentally disadvantaged. The National Recreation Foundation's Robert W. Crawford Achievement Prize is an annual award given to individuals who have demonstrated numerous contributions to the nation's "at-risk" youth. The award comes with a $50,000 grant that Conaway will donate to the National Guard Youth Foundation.

About The National Guard Youth Foundation
The mission of the National Guard Youth Foundation, a 501(c)(3), is to foster program awareness, provide scholarships and facilitate internships and job opportunities for graduates of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program.  To learn more about the ChalleNGe Program and its cadets, please visit www.ngyf.org.

SOURCE National Guard Youth Foundation