The Satchel Paige Foundation (SPF) is a public not-for-profit organization formed to perpetuate the memory and accomplishments of Leroy "Satchel" Paige and use his celebrity in a way that would benefit low-income single parent families.

Satchel Paige was the seventh of twelve children born to a gardener and a domestic worker. Early in his childhood, his mother became what we call today, a "single parent". At the age of twelve he was sentenced to five years attendance at the Industrial School for Negro Children in Mount Meigs, Alabama, for stealing and for truancy. It was there he learned the value of an education and the game of baseball. After his release, never forgetting the hardships faced by his mother and in spite of what would seem insurmountable obstacles, he continued to demonstrate his athletic prowess and determination to become one of the greatest baseball pitchers of all time. A baseball career that would climax with his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

SPF addresses a critical need in the Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS metropolitan communities. Of approximately seven thousand five-hundred 501(c ) (3) organizations in the eleven county area, none offers scholarships to low-income single parents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary, single parents account for 27 percent of family households with children under 18. The number of single mothers (not including single fathers) increased from three million to ten million between 1970 and 2000.

Our program is modeled after a successful scholarship fund in Northwest Arkansas. That program was started in the early 1990's. Since then, the fund has provided more than 11,000 scholarships; has raised $5.5 million for the program; and the college graduation rate of the scholarship recipients is at 85.5% - more than double the average for entering freshmen. Their funds are paid to the scholarship recipient; our funds are paid to the institution.

SPF partnered with the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation (GKCCF) to benefit from their years of nonprofit experience, guidance and successful fund management. GKCCF including its five affiliates within the Greater Kansas City region is recognized as a national leader in making sure every philanthropic investment returns the greatest financial benefit possible.

Higher education not only impacts the individual and their family but it has societal benefits as well. Higher levels of education correspond to lower levels of unemployment and poverty, contributes to higher tax revenue and adults with higher education are less likely to depend on social safety-net programs generating decreased demand on public budgets. We hope you will join our efforts to help single-parents attain self-sufficiency through post-secondary education.