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District Extra Thursday, July 16, 2009

8

BUSINESS & NONPROFIT PHILANTHROPY SUMMIT AND AWARDS

Presented by:

CONGRATULATIONS!

to the Winners of the 2009 Business & Nonprofit Philanthropy Awards!

We applaud you for all you do to strengthen and impact the region!

Business Awards

Community Impact:

Social Value Leadership: Business CEOs

Greatest Impact on a Local Nonprofit:

Deloitte, LLP

Tom Raffa, President Raffa, P.C.

Bates White, LLC

Nonprofit Awards

Community Impact:

Jewish Social Service Agency

Social Value Leadership: Nonprofit CEOs

Jonelle S. Wallmeyer Executive Director ACT for Alexandria

To learn more about the Business & Nonprofit

Philanthropy Summit and Awards and Greater DC Cares, visit www.greaterdccares.org.

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The Region News

Groups Work to Distract Youths With Alternatives to Joining Gangs

GANGS, From Page 5

Oscar Lemus, 20, said kids see gangs portrayed in movies and begin imitating the characters. That can lead to verbal confronta- tions, which can erupt in fights and ignite ever-escalating vio- lence.

“The problems never stop,” added Sergio Reyes, 20.

He said if a teenager’s parents don’t listen to him or he doesn’t get along with them, he might be enticed by a gang. For some kids, gang leaders offer something par- ents might not: a simple “How are you doing? How have you been?” Jose Lovos, 17, said some kids don’t have “a lot of guys to chill with, so they look for a group.” They say they join for protection, Lovos said, but he suspects that is more of an after-the-fact justifica- tion.

“If they’re not in gangs, or not in trouble, they don’t have any- thing to fear,” Lovos said.

Welch said Hispanic gangs tend to recruit Hispanic mem- bers. One reason: They can threaten them with retaliation against relatives in their native countries through contacts there. He said such actions are a logisti- cal and management challenge, but many gang leaders are up to the task.

“If they spent half the time at being something legitimate, they’d probably be very success- ful,” Welch said.

Gangs with African American leaders tend to be more open to whites, Hispanics and Asians, Welch said. “They’ll take all. They’re looking for numbers.” As for the parents of young gang members, some are juggling two or three jobs and can’t be home after school. Or they might not see the first tiny signs of gang involvement, such as wearing cer- tain clothes, as a marker of trou- ble.

“Like we all do,” Welch said.

“You might hope, ‘It’s just a phase.’ ” Welch advises parents to be blunt with their teenagers: Who

are your friends? I want to meet them. Are you in a gang? Why are you in a gang?

“I’d go right at them,” Welch said.

He said the young gang mem- bers he deals with fall into two camps.

In one are the kids who recent- ly joined to be part of a group. All of a sudden, someone in the gang tells them to commit a crime, which they do without necessari- ly thinking about the consequenc- es.

“When we get them, some are full of remorse,” Welch said. Then there are teenagers who can look police officers in the face and describe in cold terms how they stabbed someone because they felt disrespected. “They’re just like ice,” Welch said. “They have no remorse.” Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66
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