ST. LOUIS – The Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation (TTEF) joyfully announces the 30th anniversary of the organization’s founding, marking three decades providing scholarships to children in need in the St. Louis region.
Thirty years ago in 1991, Sr. Mary Ann Eckhoff, SSND, then Superintendent of Catholic Education, joined forces with Archbishop May and a group of faithful civic leaders with the noble idea to make faith-based education accessible to more children in St. Louis.
Since then, the mission of the Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation has grown from supporting hundreds of elementary school scholarship recipients annually to more than 4,000 scholars at 119 private and parochial elementary schools per year, at a near decade commitment to each child. Alumni of TTEF scholarship programs succeed in life at a rate far beyond their peers. TTEF alumni earned 100% high school graduation rates in 2020 and 90% enrolled in post-secondary education or the military.
“This organization began as a leap of faith, but after thirty years, we can stand here and say we know that this mission did work, does work, and will continue to work for St. Louis children. The evidence is clear, and the need for our mission is never more apparent in the midst of this pandemic, which lays bare the social inequalities that remind us our work is not done,” says TTEF board chairman Kevin Short.
Since the organization’s inception, Today and Tomorrow has grown into the 4th largest foundation of its kind in the country, having raised more than $150 million from local and national funding sources. More than 4,000 elementary school scholarships for the 2021-2022 school year will be available starting January 11, 2021.
“TTEF gives parents a choice and students a chance to attend the faith-based or private school of their choice. Scholarships change lives. Educational achievements transform the lives of individuals, their families, and our community. I’m so proud to partner with parents, students, our partner schools and benefactors to transform lives through the gift of education,” says TTEF executive director Sharon Gerken.
Community members are invited to learn more about the work of the Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation, make a gift to support scholarship recipients, or apply for a scholarship at ttef-stl.org.
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