Give Something Back Foundation

The Give Something Back Foundation (GSBF), based in Lockport, Illinois, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping under-privileged children in the Lockport area attain a college degree. GSBF was established in 2003 by Robert Carr, founder and CEO of Heartland Payment Systems.

Carr, who now lives in New London, N.H., started the scholarship foundation largely because of his gratitude for a $250 college scholarship he received from the Lockport Women’s Club when he was a high school senior. He went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Illinois. A key tenet of GSBF is that Carr hopes recipients of the award will one day reciprocate in the same manner if their financial circumstances permit.

Give Something Back Foundation scholarships fund $20,000 toward each recipient’s college tuition. Past recipients of GSBF awards have gone on to graduate from such schools as Harvard University, University of Illinois, Illinois State University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Bradley University, Ohio State University, University of Iowa, Eastern Illinois University, Lewis University and Loyola University Chicago.

Most recently, GSBF partnered with the University of St. Francis, Lewis University and Blackburn College to create the GSBF Partner School Scholarship. The program is designed to fund the cost of college for students of high character, with excellent academic achievement, who are eligible for a full Pell Grant. Through the GSBF scholarship, and cost reduction by the three partner schools, 52 students a year have the opportunity to attend college at no cost. The program also prepares eligible high school students for college through mentoring, etiquette training, networking events, and educational panels. In 2013, 60 students were chosen for the scholarship program.