Founded in 1994, the St. Louis American Foundation was started to further its mission of service to the community. Its efforts are focused around individual achievement recognition events, awarding scholarships and community grants as well as its innovative, award-winning Newspaper In Education program.
The St. Louis American Foundation is a five-time recipient of the National Newspaper Association’s First Place Award for Community Service and has received 15 regional and national first place awards in the last 10 years for Community Service.
Recognition Events
Net proceeds from the St. Louis American Foundation’s annual “Salute to Excellence” recognition events are used to fund the Foundation’s programs, scholarships and grants. Annual events include: Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship & Awards Gala (which the foundation recently held its milestone 35th Gala); Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon; Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon; and the Salute to Young Leaders Networking Awards Reception.
“This has been an amazing run,” Donald M. Suggs, St. Louis American publisher, executive editor, and St. Louis American Foundation president said of the Salute to Excellence in Education Gala reaching its 35th evening of celebration and honors. “A community should celebrate what it values. That is an even more compelling reason, during these challenging times.”
“The Salute helps raise needed financial resources for high-achieving aspirational young people,” Suggs said. “They are critical to a better future, and we want them to seize this opportunity.”
Scholarships and Grants
In 2022, the St. Louis American Foundation, in collaboration with its higher education partners, fostered more than $2.8 million in minority scholarships for high-potential college students and community grants for educators. Since its inception, the Foundation, with the assistance of its educational, corporate and individual supporters, has distributed more than $13 million locally, mostly in higher education scholarships.
The Foundation has established scholarship partnerships with 12 Missouri colleges and universities:
University of Missouri-Columbia
Southeast Missouri State University
Harris-Stowe State University
Missouri State University,
Webster University
Maryville University
St. Louis Community College
Fontbonne University
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College
Saint Louis University
Additionally, through its partnership with the Deaconess Foundation and the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, the Foundation awards $100,000 in scholarships annually for selected local students pursuing their education in nursing.
See the entire St. Louis American’s 95th Anniversary Special section.
