NEW YORK, May 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Foot
Locker Foundation, Inc., the charitable arm of Foot Locker, Inc.,
today announced the twenty recipients of the Foot Locker Scholar
Athletes Program. Each student will receive $20,000 in college scholarships, totaling
$400,000.
This year's program marks the largest applicant pool since its
inception, with more than 30,000 student-athletes applying. The
2015 class of Foot Locker Scholar Athletes is made up of 20
inspiring students, many of whom have persevered to overcome
challenges and invest in their communities through goodwill, while
demonstrating academic excellence and leadership skills in their
sport. The positive impacts and contributions to our society by
this incredible group of talented student athletes range from the
collection of over 1,800 shoes for underprivileged populations, to
the founding of an inner-city kickball league aimed to help kids
deal with issues of low self-esteem, to the development of a cancer
awareness program that encourages student athletes to get screened
for cancer.
The rising cost of college tuition makes it difficult for
students, even all-star scholars to fund their college careers
without taking out loans. About 70 percent of 2013 graduates left
college with an average of $28,400 in
debt[1]- and this amount is likely to continue to rise for the
class of 2019.
"We recognize the tremendous potential of our 20 winners and
want to help them achieve their higher education goals while
awarding them the opportunity to continue doing the work that they
are passionate about, and, in so doing, make the world a better
place," states Richard A. Johnson,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Foot Locker, Inc. "These
20 student-athletes are ambitious, intelligent, and well-rounded
individuals, and nothing should stand between them and their future
success."
Following are this year's 20 winners, who will join the
program's previous three classes of 20 Foot Locker Scholar
Athletes, totaling 80 scholarship recipients in its fourth
year.
Winner
|
Hometown
|
Sport
|
Community
Impact
|
Jordan
King
|
Littlerock,
CA
|
Football
|
Recipient of
the Ronald Reagan Student
Leadership Award
|
Caroline
Kurdej
|
Schaumburg,
IL
|
Cross Country, Track
& Field
|
Recipient of the
All-Academic Senior Athletes Award
|
Allison
Ryburn
|
Grinnell,
KS
|
Basketball, Track,
Volleyball, Cheer
|
President of the
National Honors Society
|
Matthew
Guillory
|
Long Beach,
CA
|
Track & Field,
Cross Country, Basketball
|
Eagle
Scout
|
Kylie
Kuhns
|
Mifflinburg,
PA
|
Soccer, Basketball,
Softball
|
Founder of the
nonprofit Kelsey's Dream
|
William
Mangram
|
Irving, TX
|
Soccer,
Football
|
All-State Academic
and President of National Honor Society
|
Regine
Francois
|
Immokalee,
FL
|
Cross Country, Track
& Field
|
Founder of annual
service project "Hygiene for Haiti"
|
Elizabeth
Roux
|
Naples, FL
|
Cross Country, Track
& Field
|
State Representative
of Florida High School Athletic Association
|
Cassandra
Mosley
|
Ocala, FL
|
Soccer, Tennis, Cross
Country
|
Naval Science Award
Winner
|
Edgar
Escarzaga
|
Los Angeles,
CA
|
Basketball
|
Leader in Urban Teens
Exploring Technology
|
Ariel
Kantor
|
Chapel Hill,
NC
|
Basketball,
Swimming
|
National Vice
President of Students Against Violence Everywhere
|
Nicholas
Hibbeler
|
Kansas City,
MO
|
Soccer
|
Founder of testicular
cancer awareness campaign CHECK 2
|
Tia Kohs
|
Kalispell,
MT
|
Cross Country, Track
& Field
|
Leader of Tomorrow
for United Way
|
Austin
Peppers
|
Rice, TX
|
Football, Basketball,
Tennis, Track
|
Vice President of Key
Club
|
Ricardo
Lozoya
|
El Paso,
TX
|
Cross Country, Track
& Field
|
Founder of Mental
Math Mentoring Program
|
Emilee
Hamilton
|
Providence,
UT
|
Tennis
|
Founder of nonprofit
Utah YOUth Connect
|
Austin
Verissimo
|
Newark, NJ
|
Soccer,
Hockey
|
Counselor at Boys
& Girls Club
|
Curtis Hsu
|
Troy, MI
|
Swimming, Cross
Country
|
Founder of charity
Cross Continents
|
Tre'Shunda
James
|
Houston,
TX
|
Volleyball
|
Special Olympics
Coach
|
Kenneth
Sheffler
|
Desmet, ID
|
Basketball, Baseball,
Football
|
Voice of Democracy
Writing Award winner
|
To read more on these incredible winners visit
https://footlockerscholarathletes.com/
The Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Program is a part of the Foot
Locker Foundation, Inc., the charitable arm of Foot Locker, Inc.,
which provides monetary support for educational and sports programs
across the country. Supporting this all-star program is Fastweb, a
trusted scholarship and financial aid resource used by students to
help find opportunities to pay for school.
About Foot Locker Foundation, Inc.:
Founded in 2001,
The Foot Locker Foundation, Inc. is the charitable arm of Foot
Locker, Inc., a specialty athletic retailer that operates
approximately 3,500 stores in 23 countries in North America, Europe, Australia and New
Zealand. The Foundation's mission is to promote a better
world for today's youth by creating, developing, and supporting
innovative educational programs and encouraging health and
well-being through physical activity. Since its inception, the
Foundation has developed significant partnerships, programs, and
initiatives to improve and enrich communities nationwide.
About Fastweb:
Fastweb, a top site in the Monster
Worldwide (NYSE:MWW) network, is the nation's recognized leader in
helping students pay for school, by providing scholarship and
financial aid information, as well as information on jobs and
internships. One out of three college-bound seniors use the site,
and more than 50 million users have benefitted from Fastweb's
information and services. Fastweb lets students create personalized
profile that can be matched against its expansive databases of
colleges and scholarships. As the oldest and most popular free
online scholarship matching service, the database has more than 1.5
million scholarships totaling over $3.4
billion. To learn more about Fastweb, visit
http://www.fastweb.com and follow on Twitter at
@PayingForSchool.
[1] U.S. News
(http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/11/13/average-student-loan-debt-hits-30-000)
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/foot-locker-foundation-unveils-recipients-of-fourth-annual-foot-locker-scholar-athletes-program-300078243.html
SOURCE Foot Locker Foundation, Inc.