Bethlen Almanac 1999 (Ligonier)

The Hungarian Reformed Federation of America

“Keeping America’s Promise”

The 13th Annual Meeting of the National Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA) was held in Arlington, Virginia, part of Washington, D.C.’s Greater Metropolitan area, on September 14-18,1999. Throughout the meeting, special attention was paid to topics dealing with our youth. The general consensus of the participating member societies was that “youth can make a difference” in the lives of our societies.

At the meeting, NFCA proudly announced that the fraternal system has made good on its promise to North America’s young people! This promise had been first voiced in April 1997, when the NFCA, on behalf of its societies, announced in The President’s Summit for America’s Future its intentions of mobilizing its members to build and strengthen the character and competence of our continent’s youth. In 1998, the NFCA carried this commitment over to America’s Promise—The Alliance for Youth. (The Alliance is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of our nation’s more than 15 million at-risk youth.)

At least half of all community service programs and disbursements by fratemals either benefit or involve young people. That means the fraternal system more than surpassed its promise by volunteering 13 million hours and contributing in excess of $10.8 million over the twoyear period. These hours and dollars went to:

♦ Scholarships and leadership training;

♦ Programs to combat alcohol and drug use;

♦ Mentoring projects and youth clubs; and

♦ Activities for mental and physical well-being.

Although the Federation has had only a limited program to support these youth initiatives, help is on its way. The NFCA’s new Fraternal Youth Ambassador Program was established with a full-time person hired by the NFCA’s headquarters to help societies like ours to develop programs for our youth.

The Youth Ambassador program, in partnership with “Youth Engaged In Service” (YES) is also designed to help member societies integrate its youth involvement into every aspect of our society’s life.

We will keep our membership informed of developments because in order to achieve this goal of helping our young people lead happy, healthy and productive lives, we will need your support and involvement in our efforts.

George Dózsa, HRFA President

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