Former first lady Melania Trump on Friday announced her latest initiative to help America’s children, an extension of her Be Best efforts while in the White House. She explained she has been “laying the groundwork” for a project focusing on children in the foster care system.
Her latest project, Fostering the Future, will “work to secure educational opportunities and scholarships for children,” she announced in a statement.
“Scholarship recipients will learn in a supportive environment, gaining knowledge critical to realizing job security within the technology sector. By providing access to computer science education, these individuals will be prepared to enter the workforce and ultimately reach financial independence,” she wrote, noting that many children in the foster care system “lack the support and stability to finish their education and gain meaningful employment.”
The former first lady cited statistics from the National Foster Youth Institute, revealing that just half of foster children finish high school, and only three percent go on to earn a college degree.
“To avoid confusion, I do not operate a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. In simple terms, ‘Fostering the Future’ is the name of my platform. Fostering the Future is a Be Best initiative,” she clarified, adding that she is working with the Bradley Impact Fund, a “donor-advised fund, to select charities that support foster children.”
“The Bradley Impact Fund will disburse funds raised through the efforts of Fostering the Future to the respective beneficiaries.” She added:
With the assistance of various agencies and individuals in the foster care community, we are currently identifying foster children from across our Nation interested in receiving scholarships. These individuals will have the ability to take advantage of the opportunity to learn computer sciences this year.
Melania Trump also addressed what she described as “false reports” surrounding her initiative, detailing a Silicon Valley school with a campus in Oklahoma refusing to work with Fostering the Future at what seemed to be the last minute. According to Trump, “multiple scholarships were going to be granted through the school’s preferred designated fund.”
“They would not accept scholarship dollars for deserving students—even as an anonymous gift. It was made clear to me that the school’s Board of Directors organized a politically-motivated decision,” she said, noting she was “disappointed but not surprised.”
Trump continued:
This is not the first time where politics got in the way of my mission to support children. In fact, I tried to galvanize partners to broaden the impact of Be Best while in the White House and was outright rejected. For example, a prospective corporate partner refused an opportunity to further our shared philanthropic goals surrounding my visit to Africa.
Supporting children is not, and should never be, part of a political agenda. Imagine the opportunities we could create if we all worked together to support our children and committed to helping them fulfill their hopes and dreams.
Trump ended her press release by criticizing members of the mainstream media, who she said continue to “publish inaccurate, misleading, and outright incorrect articles” about her work.
“The media has created a narrative whereby I am trying to act in an illegal or unethical manner. That portrayal is simply untrue and adversely affects the children I hope to support. Those who attack my initiatives and create the appearance of impropriety are quite literally dream killers,” she continued.
“They have canceled the hopes and dreams of children by trying to cancel me,” Trump added.
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