» Dubuque Again Named One of the Nation's 100 Best Communities for Young People by Americas Promise Alliance
Competition Showcases Successful Efforts by U.S. Cities and Towns to Help Young People Succeed

January 24, 2008

Dubuque, IOWA -- Americas Promise Alliance (the Alliance), the nation's largest alliance dedicated to children and youth, in partnership with Capital One, today announced that Dubuque has once again been named a winner of its 2008 100 Best Communities for Young People(100 Best) competition. The 100 Best competition recognizes the 100 outstanding communities across America, large and small, rural and urban, that are the best places for young people to live and grow up. More than 300 communities in all 50 states applied for the honor this year. The 100 winning communities span 37 states.

Dubuque was selected as one of the 100 Best in large part because of its Every Child Every Promise( http://www.everychild-everypromise.org/index.cfm) Initiative, which is represents the collaborative efforts of Dubuque's numerous youth-serving agencies. Every Child Every Promise is a county-wide community engagement and education process for all citizens. It is fashioned after Americas Promise, a national model for community involvement for children. The mission of Every Child, Every Promise is to improve outcomes for our community's youth by concentrating the community's focus on the fulfillment of the Five Promises: Caring Adults , Safe Places, Healthy Start, Effective Education, and Opportunities to Help Others. Local drivers behind the Every Child Every Promise process are the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and Mississippi Valley Promise.

"Dubuque is elated and honored to receive this national distinction for the second consecutive year," said Dubuque Mayor Roy D. Buol. "It affirms the great strides being made by so many of our organizations, agencies, and individuals - many of whom volunteer their time in order to make important differences in the lives of our young people."

Mississippi Valley Promise Executive Director Mary Moothart coordinated Dubuque's application to the Americas Promise Alliance and noted that 39 individuals from 22 Dubuque organizations contributed to the application. "This award is well-deserved recognition of the efforts of many different entities in our community which include agencies and organizations, schools, city government, and faith communities to provide a community of promise and opportunity for young people," said Moothart. "My hope is that our community sees this award not only as a recognition of our efforts for young people so far, but as call to action to continue to work together so that we can provide opportunities for all the young people in our community."

"The prosperity of every community and this country depends on how well we care for our children and youth," said Marguerite W. Kondracke, president and CEO, Americas Promise Alliance, "Although no place is perfect, when we have communities that make young people a priority and are working to make sure they stay in school and have all the resources necessary to lead healthy, productive lives, we must recognize them and by extension inspire other cities and towns to follow their lead."

"At Capital One, we are committed to building stronger communities, one neighborhood at a time," said Carolyn Berkowitz, Vice President of Community Affairs for Capital One. "That's why were proud to partner with the Alliance on the 100 Best competition to recognize the tremendous work in communities across the country to create environments where children and families have boundless opportunities as well as the support systems necessary to champion their growth and encourage their success."

The 100 Best competition was first held in 2005. This years winners were selected by a distinguished panel that included some of the nations most well-known civic, business and nonprofit leaders such as: Gayle Manchin, first lady of West Virginia, United Way President Brian Gallagher, former Mayor of Denver and President of Webb Group International, Wellington Webb, Thomas Donohue, president and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Carol Coletta, president and CEO, CEOs for Cities, Christine James-Brown, president and CEO, the Child Welfare League of America, and Dr. Suzanne Morse, executive director of the Pew Partnership for Civic Change.

All communities that completed entries in the 100 Best competition were required to submit detailed information to the Alliance on existing community programs and initiatives that help deliver the Five Promises resources identified by Americas Promise as being critical to the development of healthy, successful children: caring adults; safe places; healthy start; effective education; and opportunities to help others; to their young people. Applicants were also asked to describe how different sectors of their community come together to deliver the Five Promises and specific efforts and programs developed to ensure that their young people graduate from high school prepared for college and/or the workforce. Each of these communities, regardless of whether they were selected as a winner, will be eligible to apply for $300,000 in grants from the Alliance next month.

For more details about the 100 Best competition and to see a complete list of the 2008 winners, please visit www.americaspromise.org.

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About the Americas Promise Alliance
Americas Promise Alliance is the nations leader in forging a strong and effective partnership alliance comprised of corporations, nonprofit organizations, foundations, policymakers, advocacy and faith groups committed to ensuring that children receive the fundamental resources - the Five Promises they need to lead successful, healthy and productive lives and build a stronger society. Building on the legacy of our founder General Colin Powell, the Alliance believes the success of our children is grounded in experiencing the Five Promises - caring adults; safe place; a healthy start; an effective education; and opportunities to help others - at home, in school and in the community. For more information on Americas Promise Alliance visit: www.americaspromise.org.

About Capital One
Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com)) is a financial holding company, with 732 locations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas and Louisiana. Its principal subsidiaries, Capital One Bank, Capital One Auto Finance, Inc., and Capital One, N.A. offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One's subsidiaries collectively had $83.3 billion in deposits and $146.4 billion in managed loans outstanding as of September 30, 2007. Capital One, a Fortune 500 company, trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.