Last month, more than 2,000 City Year corps members participated in Opening Day ceremonies across the country and, with the support of Comcast, dedicated a year of their lives to making a difference for children and their communities. Among the corps members on teams sponsored by Comcast are outstanding individuals like 22-year-old Danielle Gilliam, who is using her year of service to better prepare students for college at Frankford High School in Philadelphia. They also include Jason Kim, a recent high school graduate who wants to help battle the education crisis by serving at Brown Education Campus in Washington, D.C.
Danielle, Jason and all of our City Year corps members are idealistic young adults who "give a year" to "change the world." They serve full-time in high poverty schools across the country, helping students and schools succeed. Their work is critically important because more than a million students drop out of high school each year in America. By serving as full-time tutors, mentors and role models, City Year corps members help to keep students in school and on track to high school graduation.
This year, our largest U.S. corps ever, is serving more than 100,000 students in 187 high-need schools in 21 cities. Each fall, to begin their year of service, the City Year corps is sworn in as City Year AmeriCorps members in our 21 U.S. locations in a high energy Opening Day ceremony. We are honored to have Comcast as this year's City Year's official National Opening Day sponsor. Recently, City Year's 21st U.S. location launched its inaugural year of service in Denver. This important milestone would not have been possible without the leadership of Comcast, which sponsors a founding team of City Year Denver corps members, as well as teams in seven other City Year communities.
Comcast is a City Year National Leadership Sponsor, and a strategic partner in building and expanding City Year. At City Year, we've set a bold goal to reach a majority of all off-track students in cities across the country. Our partnership with Comcast since 2001 demonstrates a shared commitment to education, improving our local communities, and to building the leaders of tomorrow. Many of the idealistic young adults who joined our 2011-2012 corps were inspired to step forward to serve because of the "give a year. change the world" promotional campaign that Comcast broadcast for City Year nationwide.
I personally want to thank Comcast for renewing and expanding their remarkable partnership with City Year, which has provided City Year with more than $75 million in cash and in-kind support over the past 10 years. Thank you, Comcast, for helping City Year dream big.