Vynamic Funds PA's First WARM2Kids Learning Center at Philadelphia's R.W.
Brown Community Center
M. L. Carr to Host Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for Vynamic Learning Center on June
18th
PHILADELPHIA, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Philadelphia-based management
consulting firm, Vynamic, has provided the funding to open Pennsylvania's
first WARM2Kids (We're All Role Models 2 Kids) Learning Center at the R.W.
Brown Community Center, a Caring People Alliance facility in North
Philadelphia. The new 900 sq. ft. Learning Center will open at 3:30 PM EDT on
June 18, 2008. A ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially introduce the center
will be hosted by WARM2Kids President & CEO and former Boston Celtics
champion, M. L. Carr.
The WARM2Kids Learning Center Program is a national effort to provide
state-of-the-art computers as well as a self-sustaining social and emotional
development program for youth through the WARM2Kids web site
(www.warm2kids.com). WARM2Kids offers resources tailored to engage "teens" and
"tweens" in the process of positive role model behavior development. Other
WARM2Kids Learning Center Programs are open at community centers in Florida,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island and Texas.
The "Vynamic Learning Center" will be open to all R.W. Brown Community
Center members and participants. As with all WARM2Kids Learning Centers, the
facility features an engaging computer-based learning environment focusing on
content from expert approved resources and celebrity role models as well as
social/emotional development programs from the WARM2Kids website
(www.warm2kids.com). This center also represents a new prototype for WARM2Kids
Learning Centers with newly designed and comfortably furnished gathering areas
for group and individual activities including homework help, tutoring, teen
development programs and activities aimed at developing entrepreneurial
skills.
Vynamic's decision to sponsor and fund Pennsylvania's first WARM2Kids
Learning Center came following a meeting with the firm's founder, Dan Calista,
had with M. L. Carr. Calista explains: "The purpose of creating a new model of
consulting, as we've done at Vynamic, was to build a culture and a way of
doing business that reinforces personal and professional empowerment. When we
began looking at opportunities to support our community in a truly 'Vynamic'
way, we found a perfect match in WARM2Kids' emphasis on empowerment through
role-modeling."
Calista also points out that the timing of the center's grand opening was
purposefully designed to coincide with the end of the school year. "We're
offering an engaging, friendly and welcoming space for teens to gather during
the summer months and beyond."
"At a time when positive and productive programs and activities for kids
in Philadelphia are disappearing, our community centers offer a safe haven for
children and teenagers who don't want to be out on the streets, exposed to the
threat of trouble," said Arlene Bell, Caring People Alliance President and
CEO. "We are grateful and pleased to welcome the WARM2Kids/Vynamic Learning
Center to R.W. Brown and expand the range of activities we offer that teach,
motivate and inspire our kids."
All furnishings for the new Philadelphia-based prototype were exclusively
sourced through the IKEA store, kicking off a new partnership between
WARM2Kids and IKEA. "Working with Vynamic to create a hip and inviting space
was a natural fit for IKEA. We believe that young people should be inspired
by their environment," says Jennifer Braxton, public relations manager at IKEA
South Philadelphia. "Using IKEA furnishings at R.W. Brown, and more centers to
come, we hope will encourage these young people to do and give their very
best."
In making the commitment to partner with WARM2Kids, the entire
Philadelphia-based Vynamic team was immediately involved in the
process -- meeting with various individuals who run the center and the teens
themselves and participating in R.W. Brown events -- in order to create a
program (and environment) that readily meets R.W. Brown's needs. The
opportunity has been so inspiring that one of Vynamic's executives, Scott
Shohen, has even joined the Caring People Alliance Board of Directors.
WARM2Kids President and CEO, M. L. Carr, with the support of other
socially conscious individuals and corporations, plans to drastically expand
the WARM2Kids Learning Center Program. "Our goal is to launch the program in
twenty-five plus states by year-end so that millions of youth, families and
program directors can use the site to stay connected with each other," says
Carr.
About Vynamic
Vynamic LLC is a Philadelphia-based management consulting firm that
partners with its clients to lead key strategic and operational initiatives.
Founded in 2002 by a former Accenture executive the firm works in a broad
array of industries and sectors, primarily in the Fortune 500 arena, providing
project leadership services such as systems implementation, vendor selection
and management, process design, strategic planning, and organizational change.
Vynamic's transparent approach, communicative style and collaborative nature
are all hallmarks of its reputation.
More information is available at www.vynamic.com
About WARM2Kids
We're All Role Models 2 Kids (WARM2Kids) is an online information resource
and celebrity role model community. The goal of the organization is to
eliminate "silent suffering" by providing teens and young adults with safe,
reliable information about the issues that concern them. The WARM2Kids
Learning Center Program provides free computer access to teens and the
community. The program connects socially responsible companies, celebrities
and individuals with community and youth organizations to impact the social
and emotional development of today's youth and families through the use of the
WARM2Kids website (www.warm2kids.com).
About Caring People Alliance
Caring People Alliance, an affiliate of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America,
is one of the Philadelphia region's most comprehensive human service agencies.
Caring People Alliance strives to empower children and youth in Philadelphia
to become positive citizens, decision-makers and leaders. Through its
community centers and outreach programs, Caring People Alliance provides kids
and their families with high quality, community-based programs and services
that promote character-building, educational achievement, healthy lifestyles,
peaceful problem-solving and teamwork. Serving children and strengthening
families has been Caring People Alliance's mission for 75 years. This year,
Caring People Alliance will serve more than 40,000 children and their families
in Philadelphia.
Visit www.caringpeoplealliance.org
About IKEA
Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered a wide range of home
furnishings of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of the
people can afford them. As part of this commitment to create a better
everyday life for the many people, IKEA incorporates environmentally and
socially responsible efforts into day-to-day business, strives to be an
employer of choice, and continually supports initiatives that benefit causes
such as children and the environment. The unique and family friendly IKEA
shopping experience currently can be found at more than 250 IKEA stores in 35
countries, including 34 in the U.S. Stores are being planned in: Brooklyn,
NY; Charlotte, NC; Somerville, MA; and Tampa, FL. For more information visit
the IKEA Web site at http://www.IKEA-USA.com
SOURCE Vynamic
Dan Calista of VYNAMIC, +1-917-686-5525, dcalista@vynamic.com, or Andrea Carr
of WARM2Kids, +1-617-254-9276 x115, andrea.carr@warm2kids.com, or Heather M.
Newcomb of Sage Communications Partners, +1-215-254-7112,
hnewcomb@sage-communications.com, for Caring People Alliance, or Jennifer
Braxton of IKEA, +1-215-551-4215 x1336, jennifer.braxton@memo.ikea.com
