Dear Colleague,

I invite you to become a cosponsor of the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) Revitalization Act of 2010 (H.R. 4480). For 40 years NYSP has measurably improved the lives of more than 2 million of America’s poorest children. Now the program needs your help.

On March 17, 1969, under the leadership of President Johnson, the White House announced that the federal government was committing resources to establish a sports program for economically disadvantaged youth and NYSP was born. The program grew to be much more than a sports program.

For five weeks during the summer months NYSP participants are transported to a college campus and provided with educational and sports-skills instruction and two nutritious USDA-approved meals each day. Participants are also provided instruction in math and sciences, alcohol-and-other-substance abuse programs, nutrition, personal health and wellness. Prior to the program each child receives a medical examination at no cost to the families.

The benefits of the medical exams alone are enormous. In the last year of full federal funding, one third of the kids –more than 26,000– were identified with previously undiagnosed medical conditions, including obesity, asthma, heart murmurs and high blood pressure. NYSP staff worked with parents and guardians to ensure the child received the proper treatment and follow-up care in their respective communities. Without treatment, many of these youth could have developed more serious and costly illnesses down the road.

The federal commitment to NYSP has changed and now these kids need your help. Since 2007, the program has operated without federal funds. The numbers of youth served has dropped dramatically. Last summer slightly more than 7,000 young people participated in NYSP programs – less than ten percent of the 75,000 served as recently as four years ago. In many cases these programs run only two or three weeks instead of the full five.

NYSP needs your support so we will be able to provide thousands of youth a safe, productive and enriching summer, keeping them off the streets and reinforcing the value of physical activity and education.