News
St. Louis Urban League Breaks Ground at QuikTrip Site
T
he burnt-out QuikTrip con-
venience store in Ferguson,
which became a symbol of
racial unrest after a police officer
killed an unarmed black teenag-
er nearby almost a year ago, will
soon reopen as a community cen-
ter focused on job training for Af-
rican Americans.
The store was looted, burned
and spray painted “R.I.P. Mike
Brown” before civilians pitched
in and cleaned up the site. As ri-
oting along West Florissant Road
intensified, heavily armed police
with armored vehicles pointed ri-
fles at protesters and fired tear gas
and “less lethal” projectiles into
crowds.
The Urban League of Metro-
politan St. Louis held a ground-
breaking ceremony at the site July
9. Under a white tent sheltering
dignitaries, Michael McMillan,
president and CEO of the Urban
League of Metropolitan St. Lou-
is, said the organization aims to
train and find employment for 500
young people in the region by the
end of summer.
“After Michael Brown’s death,
many young people in the com-
munity said they were not being
listened to and their voices were
not heard,” McMillan told the au-
PHOTO BY WILEY PRICE/ST. LOUIS AMERICAN
By Mariah Stewart
Special to the NNPA from the
St. Louis American
Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of
Metropolitan St. Louis, wielded a shovel alongside Marc Mo-
rial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, at the
groundbreaking for a new community center at the site of the
burnt-out QuikTrip in Ferguson.
dience.
“We decided to go out and walk
the streets of Ferguson and talk to
people to find out what we could
of those young people said they
needed jobs and economic oppor-
tunity in this area.”
Data collected by the Federal
‘We decided to go out and walk the
streets of Ferguson and talk to people to
find out what we could do as the Urban
League to make a difference’
do as the Urban League to make
a difference. Every single one
Reserve Bank of St. Louis show
unemployment among African
Americans in the St. Louis region
at 9.5 percent, compared with 4.8
percent for whites.
After talking with Ferguson
youth, McMillan created the Ur-
ban League’s Save Our Sons ini-
tiative. McMillan said the program
has already helped 100 young men
find jobs. The new center built on
the site of the torched QuikTrip
will house Save Our Sons, as well
as three other social services orga-
nizations: Provident, Better Fami-
ly Life and Lutheran Church Mis-
souri Synod.
McMillan also announced that
the construction crew for the new
center will be a 100 percent Afri-
can-American. Kwame Building
Group will manage the construc-
tion, which is expected to be com-
pleted in early 2016.
QuikTrip donated the land and
paid to demolish the ruined build-
ing and remediate the site. En-
terprise Holdings and the Taylor
Family gave a combined $1.8 mil-
lion, and Centene Corporation do-
nated $650,000. Another $1.5 mil-
lion came from several other St.
Louis-based companies, including
Ameren, Emerson, Edward Jones,
Armstrong Teasdale, and several
civic organizations.
Marc Morial, president and CEO
of the National Urban League,
attended the groundbreaking and
said it points toward hope for the
future in Ferguson. Morial said,
“Building the Community Em-
powerment Center represents
movement in a positive direction.”
This story is published as part
of a partnership between The St.
Louis American and The Huffing-
ton Post.
Parks
continued from page 6
will be asked to contribute to
the initiative.
Young children may not be
dropped off unsupervised at any
of the bureau’s community cen-
ters.
The East Portland Communi-
ty Center is open 6 a.m. to 9:30
p.m. weekdays; 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturdays; and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sundays.
The free program will not
include admission to the East
Portland pool, which currently
is at capacity.
For more information, go to
the center’s webpage, or contact
the center at (503) 823-3450.
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Page 8 July 22, 2015 The Portland Skanner
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