The After Prom Grand Finale Event is on for 2021, and First Team needs your help in securing a much-needed $25,000 grant from State Farm!
Due to Covid-19, the APGFE was not held this year as there were, or course and unfortunately, no proms. We fully expect Roanoke Valley schools to resume normal activities, including school proms in 2021. That means First Team (as a major sponsor) is doing everything we can to help YOVASO get the necessary funding to hold the After Prom Grand Finale event.
Starting Wednesday, Sept. 23rd through Friday, Oct. 2nd, you can help by voting for APGFE…you get 10 votes each day and you can give all 10 votes per day to this great cause! With your help, APGFE secured the $25,000 State Farm grant last year, and we know with your help we can do it again!
Here is the press release from YOVASO with details and a link to the voting site:
For Immediate Release
Becky Parr
Coordinator
YOVASO Advisory Board After Prom Grand Finale
AfterPromGrandFinale@outlook.com
540.798.0788
The After Prom Grand Finale Event has been selected as a State Farm Neighborhood Assist® Top 200 Finalist and needs your votes!
Salem, Virginia. (9/21/20) YOVASO needs your help to continue the 31-year-old After Prom Grand Finale Event. The APGF Event has struggled to remain financially stable after losing its major funding source in 2019. YOVASO depends on grants and donations to produce this life-saving event. When COVID struck, all short and long-term fundraising efforts came to a halt. Members of the community can help by voting online for them to receive a $25,000 grant from State Farm® to help keep teens safe on prom night through the After Prom Grand Finale.
YOVASO sponsors the After Prom Grand Finale Event at the end of the school year as an extra incentive for students in Southwest Virginia to attend and stay until the end of their school’s after-prom party. The 2020 prom season was canceled but in 2019, over 5,251 students from 40 high schools across Southwest Virginia made the safe choice to stay until the end of their after-prom party. That is more than 5,251 teens who made it home safely to their families after one of the biggest and most dangerous nights of their young lives. We estimate over 85,000 lives have been saved in the last 31 years! Once the After Prom Grand Finale Event is financially stable, YOVASO will spread it to other regions of Virginia to save even more lives.
To encourage participation in after-prom parties each year, First Team Auto Mall donates a brand-new car to the winning student. (Because First Team donates the entire cost of the car, 100% of this grant will go toward making the After Prom Grand Finale Event financially stable.)
YOVASO Chair Sgt. Ryan Hilbish says, “In the past 31 years of the After Prom Grand Finale event, NONE of the participating schools have experienced the tragedy of a drug or alcohol-related driving accident on the night of their prom. This event saves lives.”
Starting Wednesday, September 23 at 12:00:01am ET and running through Friday, October 2, U.S. residents who are 18 and older with a valid email address can vote every day for the After Prom Grand Finale Event at VotePromParty.com. Supporters can cast 10 votes at the same time each day. Daily voting reminders and leaderboard updates will be posted on the After Prom Grand Finale Facebook page.
If the YOVASO Advisory Board is chosen, they will receive the $25,000 grant in November.