Foundation To Be Named Later Expands Peter Gammons Scholarship Program to Chicago; Announces 2019 Recipients Including Chicago’s Inaugural Class

23 exceptional Boston and Chicago high school seniors awarded scholarships for 2019 school year

BOSTON and CHICAGO (October 24, 2019) – The Foundation To Be Named Later (FTBNL) today announced that it is expanding the Peter Gammons college scholarship program to support Chicago area high school seniors in addition to supporting Boston area students. Since it launched in 2010, FTBNL has awarded 150 college scholarships to students who have overcome tremendous challenges, have demonstrated a commitment to community service and have high financial needs. FTBNL has awarded more than one million dollars in scholarships, paired 150 scholars with caring mentors and hosted bi-annual leadership dinners and trainings for every scholar. As part of the announcement, FTBNL unveiled the 2019 class of award recipients, comprised of 23 exceptional high school students, including 15 from Boston and Chicago’s inaugural class of eight recipients.

FTBNL was launched in 2005 by twin brothers Theo and Paul Epstein to raise funds and awareness for nonprofit agencies, working on the front lines and serving youth and families from under resourced neighborhoods in Boston and Chicago. Theo Epstein serves as President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs and Paul Epstein is a Boston-based social worker. The foundation has raised more than $11 million through it’s signature Hot Stove Cool Music events and in turn has given grants, in-kind donations to 450 non-profit organizations and has sent 150 young people with extraordinary financial needs and high educational potential to the college of their choice through its Peter Gammons college scholarship fund since FTBNL’s inception in 2005.

“I am impressed with the determination, academic achievement and dedication to service that each of the candidates for our Foundation To Be Named Later Scholarship brings to the table,” said Theo Epstein co-founder of Foundation To Be Named Later and President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs. “We had a hard time selecting just one scholar, so I am happy to say we invested in eight deserving, hardworking students from Chicago!”

The scholarship, which was introduced in 2010, is named in honor of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Journalist Peter Gammons, who has been instrumental in the success of FTBNL by founding Hot Stove Cool Music, the foundation’s bi-annual benefit concert series featuring music, baseball and giving back.

“Having a college scholarship dedicated in my honor means more to me than any professional accomplishment, including being inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame,” said Gammons, a 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink inductee in Cooperstown. “I am so very proud to be associated with an organization like Foundation To Be Named Later that opens doors for these students to pursue their dreams and acquire critical career and life skills.”

Peter Gammons/FTBNL scholars are nominated by a FTBNL non-profit partner and selected for their high financial need, commitment to community service, and their great educational potential. The eight winners from Chicago were represented by six different nonprofit partners while the 15 award recipients in Boston came from nine different nonprofits.  All recipients of the scholarships have overcome extraordinary challenges and life adversities such as homelessness, violence, illness, loss of family members, and language and cultural barriers, while still giving back to their community and excelling in academics.

The Chicago recipients, who committed to colleges throughout the Midwest or East Coast, were selected following a series of interviews with Theo Epstein, The Cubs staff and FTBNL Chicago supporters while the 15 Boston recipients were selected following interviews with Peter Gammons, Paul Epstein and FTBNL Boston sponsors.

“Without this financial assistance, many of these students would not be able to attend college. FTBNL not only has given cash awards but gives them a caring mentor who is instrumental in helping their scholar navigate college and careers,” said Paul Epstein, co-founder of Foundation To Be Named Later. “Many scholars and mentors form life-long bonds and now the Gammons Scholars who have graduated are giving back by mentoring a new generation of Gammons Scholars.”

For more information visit www.foundationtobenamedlater.org.