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Tom Joyner Foundation
The Tom Joyner Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established in 1998 to help students continue their educations at Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The foundation, which was created by nationally syndicated radio personality Tom Joyner, aims to bridge the financial gap that may occur after students are accepted into college and later encounter financial difficulties that force them to drop out.
Each Memorial Day, the foundation hosts a “Fantastic Voyage” cruise that raises more than $1 million annually for scholarships. All funds raised through these efforts are used to provide scholarship assistance to HBCU students. Scholarships are awarded to students via the Financial Aid Department at the HBCU and are based on financial need and other requirements from the school and the donor.
In addition to supporting educational institutions and students, the Tom Joyner Foundation also partners with the National Education Association to fund a Teacher Licensure Scholarship Program to increase the number of fully certified teachers in minority and hard-to-staff urban and rural schools across the country.
Anheuser-Busch’s Support
Since 2002, Anheuser-Busch has donated more than $2.5 million to the Tom Joyner Foundation to help support adult students attending HBCUs. In addition, Anheuser-Busch has been a proud supporter of the “Fantastic Voyage” scholarship cruise for a decade. Sponsorship includes a Bud Light Beach Party, nightly Bud Select Theme Parties and the Michelob ULTRA Fitness Sweepstakes delivering a Michelob ULTRA Sportsart Treadmill valued at $2,800 one lucky cruiser.
Impact
“We appreciate Anheuser-Busch’s continuing support of the Tom Joyner Foundation, which demonstrates the company’s commitment to helping adult students obtain a college degree,” Joyner said.
At many HBCUs close to 40 percent of the students are first-generation college enrollees and about 90 percent of those students are eligible for financial aid. Through the years, Anheuser-Busch has provided scholarships designated for students who were the first in their families to attend college or for older students returning to complete their educations.
“For many years, Anheuser-Busch has helped the Tom Joyner Foundation provide exceptional educational opportunities to non-traditional students who, for whatever reason, were not able to complete college when they were younger,” Joyner said.
The Tom Joyner Foundation has raised more than $35 million to date to help thousands of deserving students. Since its inception, the foundation has assisted every HBCU, which is defined as “any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans.”