ATLANTA – State Representative Al Williams (D-Midway) recently expressed his thanks and commendation to the Fort Stewart Youth Challenge Academy (YCA) for aiding the Concerned Citizens of Liberty County with their annual Christmas Toy Drive.
“I want to thank the Youth Challenge Academy at Fort Stewart for their generous gift of toys that helped brighten the Christmas of several children from less fortunate families in Liberty County,” said Rep. Williams. “The Youth Challenge at Fort Stewart, under the able leadership of Dr. Roger Lotson, is deeply involved in the good of the overall community, while also building future leaders. The Youth Challenge organization throughout Georgia exemplifies how we should best prepare our youth for tomorrow.”
The Youth Challenge Academy is a subset of the National Guard designed to intervene and reclaim the lives of at-risk youth to produce graduates with the values, skills, education, and self-discipline necessary to excel as adults.
The Fort Stewart YCA is located on the Fort Stewart Army Base near Savannah. It was established by the Georgia National Guard in 1993 and, along with nine other programs, was one of the first Youth Challenge programs in the nation. While enrolled, students live much like they would in basic training, sleeping in military barracks, eating in a military dining facility, and participating in physical training. However, in partnering with Georgia’s Graduation Achievement Charter High School, Fort Stewart’s YCA offers its cadets the unique opportunity to also complete their High School Diploma while enrolled in the academy.
For more information on the Fort Stewart Youth Challenge Academy, please click here.
Representative Al Williams represents the citizens of District 168, which includes portions of Liberty County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2002, and currently serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and the Economic Development & Tourism, Game, Fish, & Parks, Rules, and Transportation committees.