FUTURES Foundation Announces Scholarship Fund Match Challenge

Daytona Beach, FL - The FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools announces a $25,000 match challenge for a new scholarship fund dedicated to a late local educator, James "Tom" Russell. The fund, known officially as the James T. “Tom” Russell Memorial Scholarship Fund, will provide an annual scholarship opportunity to qualifying high school seniors in Volusia who plan to start a path towards becoming a teacher.  The inspiration behind the fund comes from James "Tom" Russell, who served as superintendent for Volusia County Schools before becoming principal at Flagler-Palm Coast High School. Russell passed away in December after battling COVID-19. “Mr. Russell was an outstanding educator with 28 years of dedicated service in Volusia County Schools and always was a strong advocate for our Foundation,” stated FUTURES Foundation Board President Robert “Bob” Ludlow, Jr. “After his passing, our Foundation Board wanted to honor his memory through the establishment of an endowed scholarship fund. It is our intention to raise enough funds so the fund will provide several scholarships each year into perpetuity.” According to the foundation, educators and community leaders have already donated more than $5,200 to the fund. The foundation, and its board of directors, have additionally pledged a combined $25,000 match challenge to be applied to donations made to the fund. "Our match challenge will apply to donations made until $25,000 has been matched or through April 30 whichever occurs sooner," added Ludlow. "We hope our community will continue to support this scholarship fund which will benefit our public high school seniors wanting to become teachers." If you would like to donate to the fund, you can do so online through the FUTURES Foundation website, just look for the link at the top left corner of the page. You can also click here to donate.