Facebook is the Title Sponsor of the Largest HBCU College Festival on the East Coast. McDonald’s and the U.S. Intelligence Community are New Partners with Alfred Street Baptist Church Foundation in 2020.

(Black PR Wire) Alexandria, VA - Facebook and The Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) and its Foundation are partners for the third consecutive year; supporting the 18th Annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) College Festival (Festival). The 2020 Festival will take place on Saturday, January 25, 2020, at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Once again, this event will enable African American youth to connect with over 70 representatives of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), while providing information on college admission, financial aid, academic disciplines and other areas of college life. Most schools in attendance will offer instant admission, conduct on-site interviews and may even waive application fees.  New this year, there will be a $5.00 per person fee to attend.  However, everyone must register online at alfredstreet.org to enter the event.

Alfred Street Baptist Church and its Foundation are committed to higher education for African American youths and, since 2003, have connected more than 40,000 students – many of whom are first generation college students – and their parents to academic institutions through the Festival. Since inception of the Festival, participating HBCUs have awarded more than $30 million collectively to Festival attendees in the form of academic scholarships and/or waived fees.  During the 2019 Festival, over 10,000 were in attendance;  more than $11.6 million in scholarships were awarded; and 1,886 offers of admission were made to high school seniors.

“We are more than pleased that for the third year in a row that Facebook, which has a commitment to education and diversity, has partnered with us to support this worthwhile event,” said Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, Alfred Street’s senior pastor.

“We are grateful that Facebook has signed on as our title partner for the third year in a row, as we host the HBCU College Festival,” said Pat Wallace, Alfred Street Baptist Church Foundation President. “Facebook as a partner allows us to expand our reach to impact the lives of our future African American leaders.”

“We are thrilled to partner with the ASBC Foundation again to invest in the education of African American students,” said Erica Woods, Community Engagement Lead, and Facebook DC. “Facebook has always invested in the physical infrastructure across the country, but we are also investing in the social infrastructure of our communities. We are proud to have facilities in so many states that are home to HBCUs, and hope that students look for opportunities with Facebook when the time comes to pursue their career paths.”

In addition to Facebook being the title sponsor, Alfred Street Baptist Church and its Foundation are thrilled and delighted to announce that McDonald’s has joined as a first time partner as well as the U.S. Intelligence Community. ASBC and its Foundation are enthusiastic that the following companies and organizations as sponsors: Google/WAYMO, Ernst and Young, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Our Daily Bread (https://odb.org/), Deloitte, Converse, Footwear Distributers and Retailers of America (FDRA), Thompson Hospitality, Christopher Consultants, PNC Bank, Burke and Herbert Bank, PepsiCo, all for this rewarding and worthwhile event. We are also thankful for Radio/Urban One; who continues to serve as our Media Sponsors.  Google/WAYMO, once again, will be providing information about their CSSI-HBCU initiative at the Festival. Designed specifically for high school seniors; this program promotes equitable representation in tech by hosting high school seniors at a three-week summer residential program connecting them to incoming HBCU students with like-minded peers, Google engineers, CS professors, HBCU alum in CS, and Black technologists in the local tech ecosystem. Visit alfredstreet.org for more information.

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About Alfred Street Baptist Church: Established in 1803, Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) will celebrate its 217th Anniversary in November and is home to one of the oldest African American congregations in the nation. It has served as a prominent religious, educational, and cultural organization in the Northern Virginia community for over 200 years. Currently under the esteemed leadership of Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, ASBC has grown from 2,500 members to over 10,000 members with services on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30am, 9:30am and 11:30am. ASBC is also home to the popular Come as You Are (CAYA) worship service. For more information on Alfred Street Baptist Church visit www.AlfredStreet.org. 

About Alfred Street Baptist Church Foundation: The Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) Foundation is a non-profit organization that is recognized as such under Section 501(c) (3) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code. The foundation provides academic scholarships to select graduating high school seniors who have demonstrated a financial need and have maintained high academic performance.

About the HBCU College Festival: The HBCU College festival is a premier event that connects students and parents to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  Arguably the largest HBCU College fair in the country, this 2020 event expects to host approximately 15,000 students, parents, college officials and volunteers. Historical information about the Festival can be found at alfredstreet.org