Contact: Bonnie Ayers, 240-777-6536;
or David Weaver (pager) 301-224-0553
For Immediate Release: June 3, 2000

Montgomery County
Designated All-America City;
One of 10 U.S. communities
To receive title

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Montgomery County was named today as an All-America City, one of only 10 communities in the United States to receive the honor.

The selection was announced during a special reception at the All-America City Award program in Louisville, KY. Presented by the National Civic League and sponsored by Allstate Insurance Company, the All-America City Award is the oldest and most prestigious civic recognition award in the country.

The program recognizes communities in which residents, government, businesses and non-profit organizations work together to address critical local issues.

"We're thrilled that Montgomery County has been selected an All-America City," said County Executive Douglas M. Duncan. "This honor is a tribute not only to each of the three programs we highlighted - The Language Bank, Linkages to Learning and B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S. - but to the character of all the people in our community who work hard in so many ways to improve life for all our residents."

One of 30 Finalists competing for the top 10 spots, the County's delegation gave its formal presentation before a jury of local leaders from around the country on Friday afternoon and participated in the Civic Fair Friday evening, which showcased each of the Finalist communities.

Each presentation featured three local programs, which represent the spirit and intent of the All-America City Award program.

The Language Bank is composed of 80 volunteers, speaking more than 30 languages, who serve as on-call translators and interpreters for County residents who need to access public and private services. The volunteers provide services to public and private non-profit agencies registered with the County's Volunteer Center. In addition to information about the volunteer's language capabilities, the listing contains details about special skills the volunteer might possess, such as legal or medical knowledge.

Currently operating in 14 County schools, Linkages to Learning provides direct services and referrals to children and families designed to break down non-academic barriers to learning, i.e., linguistic and cultural differences, lack of transportation and childcare, and access to pediatric and mental health care. One of the program's most recent efforts is "Linkages to the Library," which promotes family literacy, improves students' reading skills and encourages parental involvement. It is expected that more than 300 children and their parents will participate this summer in the program, which was piloted last summer at the Wheaton Regional Library.

Brothers Reaching Out To Help Each Reach Success (B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S.) is a mentoring/education program for minority and at-risk males. In the program, college students mentor high school youth, who, in turn, mentor middle and elementary school children. Meetings, held twice a week after school, cover topics including life skills, anger management, and drug and alcohol resistance and awareness. Participants are trained in the political process and are required to vote as soon as they are eligible. Last year, 100 percent of the high school seniors participating in B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S. graduated and 98 percent of those went on to college.

Montgomery County was named an All-America City in 1950 and was a Finalist community in 1998 and 1999.

In addition to representatives from the three-featured organizations and several of this year's 13 sponsors, the delegation included officials from the cities of Takoma Park and Rockville, Chief of Police Charles A. Moose and the County's Chief Administrative Officer Bruce Romer.

Local sponsors for the County delegation were: Calvert Group; City of Takoma Park; Discovery Communications; Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Fresh Fields; Gazette Newspapers; Holy Cross Health; Hughes Network Systems, Inc.; Life Technologies, Inc.; Marriott International; Maximus; Smokey Glen Farm; and Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker.