Two students have found a unique way to leave there mark at FAMU by giving back not only to their hometown’s community but their soon to be alma mater as well.
Graduating seniors Dajuh Sawyer and Dontreal Fletcher have founded the Make It Out Foundation. It was designed to be a non-profit organization based around education, service and scholarship.
“Everyone has their own personal story, I just want to be able to help young kids from my hometown get a chance to make it out to tell theirs,” said Sawyer.
The idea started out based around raising money for scholarships. Using various social media outlets, they were able to raise $1,200 for their organization’s GoFundMe account.
Seven young ladies from Sawyer and Fletcher’s hometown of St. Petersburg were honored as the first recipients of the scholarship.
Due to the massive response from their peers and social media, the dynamic duo decided to take things to the next level. The Make It Out Foundation Inc. was officially founded Nov. 29, 2017, just a few months after the presentation of their first scholarship. Since then, Fletcher and Sawyer have worked side by side to implement more changes that will help to enhance recruitment of students — along with teaching the benefits of gaining a post-secondary education at Florida A & M University.
“FAMU has granted me so many experiences and opportunity’s as a young black man. There aren’t many students from my city that attend FAMU. I just want to help them gain the same opportunities that were afforded to me,” said Fletcher.
“Many of the kids in my generation back home aren’t going to college. Our mission is to figure out why and what we can do to help change things,” Sawyer added.
The foundation’s mission is to continue with presenting scholarships for incoming freshman, graduate students and transfer students, all from the St. Petersburg area, who are planning to attend Florida A & M University.
“Making it out simply stands for being able to overcome whatever obstacles or reservations that life may throw your way and achieving goals that won’t only benefit you but hopefully inspire you to give back to the community as well,” Fletcher said.
The two FAMU students are currently working toward raising money for their second scholarship. Applications are expected to be available May 2018. For more information on how you can be a part of their success, visit their GoFundMe account or social media outlets, via Facebook and Instagram.