Group seeks donations to sponsor teens at Marine leadership program
The nonprofit Southern Nevada Devil Pups Youth Leadership Program of America is seeking donations to help sponsor local teenagers attending this month’s program at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Twenty-five boys and girls between ages 14 and 17 will attend the program which runs from Thursday through July 30, according to Jack O’Rourke, past commandant of the Las Vegas Marine Corps League Greater Detachment 186, a supporter of the program.
The cost of the program “is approximately $500 per pup. They have been training on weekends since early May” to attend the camp, O’Rourke said.
“The program relies on the support of sponsors from individuals and organizations,” he said in a news release. He noted that the program “has never been used as a recruiting tool.”
The program dates back to 1953, when retired Marine Col. Duncan Shaw persuaded retired officers to launch the program to develop patriotic character qualities in teenagers after he found out that some of them burned an American flag at a Southern California high school.
The program is aimed at helping boys and girls “gain self-confidence and learn to take responsibility for their actions,” according to the Devil Pups’ website, devilpups.com.
To donate, make checks payable to Southern NV Devil Pups and send them to Devil Pups Youth Leadership Program, P.O. Box 60082, Boulder City, NV 89006.
