WASHINGTON - Military leaders, members of Congress and celebrities gathered for the National Guard Youth Foundation's 2011 ChalleNGe Champions Gala here Tuesday night.
This year, the gala celebrated the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program's 100,000th graduate.
"I am proud to be representing 100,000 other cadets, each of us with our own story of how we turned our lives around," said Tori Walston, the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program's 100,000th graduate. "Thanks to the program, [all] of us were given a second chance … and a brighter future."
When you think of the National Guard, you don't think educator, you think warfighter, said Gail Dady, president of the National Guard Youth Foundation. "But when you think about it, [no one] is better than the National Guard to create such a successful program."
The Guard is committed to communities and in every ZIP code in our nation, Dady said, "and nothing is more important to our communities, our families, or our nation, than our youth."
She added that Guardmembers' honor, courage and integrity serve as positive examples to the cadets who have often known only bad examples.
"The program gave me a lot of discipline, structure and confidence in myself," Walston said, "as well as taught me how to believe in myself and to work as a team."
"The Youth ChalleNGe [program] is changing lives and communities for the better and strengthening our nation," Dady said, "and the Youth Foundation is very honored to partner with the Guard in achieving this."
Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu said that without the help of the National Guard and its leadership, the Youth ChalleNGe program would not be able to achieve the things it has done to date or have been so successful.
"Having 100,000 [cadets] graduate is a tremendous milestone," said Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, "and thank you for allowing the National Guard and the National Guard Youth Foundation to do these great things."
Walston said learning about teamwork was one of the most important things she learned while in the program, "because you're not always going to like everybody and it's good to learn how to deal with [differences]."
She said the program is "full of learning about important life skills that you can use in the real world."
As the program's 100,000th graduate, Walston said the whole experience has taken a while to set in, "and I'm still in kind of a daze about it, but it has been really awesome.
"I think this is a great program, and if you're a kid, and you're not in school, you should definitely sign up."
Walston said that for the future, she plans to continue her education and eventually hopes to obtain a doctorate in psychology.