(Above) MLB Umpire Alex Tosi and Paul Vetrano, of Deloitte, are mentors to UMPS CARE Charities All-Star College Scholarship recipient Deanna Lescouflair. They met recently for dinner as part of our scholarship program. In addition to financial support, UMPS CARE believes strongly in ongoing mentorship to help ensure long-term success. Nationally, kids who come from the foster care system have a 5% college graduation rate. Our program, which awards scholarships to children born later in life (many from the foster care system) has had a 100% graduation rate.
UMPS CARE Charities is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. On the 20th of each month, we will share some stories and memories of the charity. This is the fourth installation in our series about the charity over the past two decades.
When UMPS CARE Charities first launched its ticket program, the goal was to invite kids to enjoy a visit at the ballpark and meet the umpire crews. The program began through connections with Big Brothers Big Sisters and expanded to include other youth-based organizations.
One of those groups was the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding permanent homes for children in foster care. As much as the kids and families from this program enjoyed the ballpark visits, they shared that there was a more pressing need that required attention: Kids who were adopted later in life joined families that had little to no savings to put a child through college.
UMPS CARE Charities listened and created its All-Star College Scholarship Program, which provides children adopted in their teens with college scholarships.
“This is a niche population that gets left behind,” said Jennifer Jopling, who has managed the All-Star College Scholarship Program since joining UMPS CARE Charities in 2013. “In the beginning, UMPS CARE focused on raising funds to support these students. These students deserve more than just financial support—they deserve the guidance, mentorship, and community needed to succeed.”
In 2015, UMPS CARE began pairing students with Major League Baseball Umpires and their family members to serve as mentors. Three of our scholarship recipients – Josh Perrin, Zoe (Cottom) Carpenter and Katherine (Atkins) Ramirez – have helped shape our program to add wraparound support for our recipients.
Today, MLB Umpires, their families, board members and sponsors not only provide care packages and lunches but also assistance with crafting resumes and job placement skills. Sometimes, it is just a phone call that makes a big difference, especially for young adults who are navigating more challenges than the average college student.
Just this month, MLB Umpire Alex Tosi and Paul Vetrano of Deloitte – both of whom serve on our UMPS CARE board of directors – had dinner with one of our scholarship recipients, Deanna Lescouflair. Deanna is a double major (political science and philosophy) at Rutgers University. UMPS CARE President D.J. Reyburn recently met up with scholarship recipient Tori Piccininni (below) at Immaculata University in Pennsylvania. D.J. and his wife, Cherie, have taken time out to serve as Tori’s mentors. MLB Umpire Dave Rackley has supported the program by serving on the scholarship committee and creating our online application.
On average, children coming from foster care have had less than 5 percent chance of graduating from college. We are proud to share that since this mentorship component has been added to our scholarship program, 100 percent of our recipients have graduated college.
“The mentorship component of the All-Star Scholarship has always meant a lot to me,” said Katherine (Atkins) Ramirez, a 2017 recipient who graduated from Appalachian State. “(My mentors, retired MLB Umpire Fieldin Culbreth (Cubby) and Amy Guccione, wife of MLB Umpire Chris Guccione) consistently checked in on me and made sure I had what I needed.”
“Cubby’s also a huge reason I’m here in Colorado today, added Katherine, who just this month relocated to Colorado after spending much of her life in North Carolina. “Back in January 2021, I dreamed of visiting Colorado for my birthday, and he helped make that possible by assisting with hotel expenses. Without his support, I wouldn’t have been able to afford the trip.”
A health care management major in college, Katherine is now a Senior Account Coordinator on the Digital Risk Team for the IMA Financial Group, Inc., at its Denver headquarters.
Because of our program’s success and increased donor support, we are also excited to share that we will be supporting another student in the upcoming school year!
To date, UMPS CARE Charities has awarded more than $600,000 to support children adopted later in life earn a college degree. Special thanks to all our supporters but especially to Joe Wolfe and the Stephen J. Wolfe Foundation, Deloitte and board member Paul Vetrano, Umpire Focus and Adam Dowdy, and Paul Emmel and supporters of his annual golf tournament in Colorado. We also are grateful to the family of MLB Umpire Eric Cooper who raised funds for one of our students (Marcus Lo).
Thanks also to the many MLB Umpires and their family members who have participated in this program.
“This is more than a scholarship-it’s a family,” said Zoe (Cottom) Carpenter, who graduated from Butler in Indiana and pays it forward by serving on our scholarship committee. “When I got the call that I was chosen as the 2012 recipient, I was elated because it meant I could attend my dream school. But I had no idea that 15 years later I’d still be involved. The people involved, like Jenn and (retired MLB Umpire and longtime Scholarship Committee member) Paul Emmel and (retired MLB Umpire) Ted Barrett and his wife, Tina, are why I’m still passionate about this program.”
If you are interested in supporting this program, please email [email protected].
(Above) MLB Umpire and UMPS CARE President D.J. Reyburn recently met with scholarship recipient Tori Piccininni, a student at Immaculata University.