UMPS CARE Charities is proud to announce the newest additions to our All-Star College Scholarship Program roster – Caroline Mackey and Deanna Lescouflair.
When this program started, we selected one student each year who had been adopted later in life and rewarded this young person with a scholarship worth $10,000 per year for the course of their college journey. In 2022, Deloitte stepped up to the plate to help us support not one, but two, recipients per year. We are thrilled to announce that the accounting and advisory firm of Marcum LLP is also sponsoring this life-changing program.
This article features Caroline’s story. To inquire about sponsoring or donating to support students like Caroline and Deanna, please email Jennifer Skolochenko-Platt at Jenn@UmpsCare.com.
Caroline Mackey never knew that the compassion of Major League Baseball umpires would provide her the opportunity to attend her dream college of Colorado Christian University, located outside of Denver.
“When I found out about this scholarship, I started crying, and then my grandma started crying. Colorado Christian has been my dream school. Without this scholarship, I think we could’ve made things work, but it really would’ve taken a lot of sacrifice. This scholarship truly made it possible.”
Major League Baseball umpires had been helping foster care children and adopted children for years through UMPS CARE Charities, but once they learned that children adopted later in life needed more support to earn college degrees, they stepped in to help. For this, Caroline and her family are truly grateful.
Caroline’s mother left the family when she was just 4, and she has not had any contact with her since. While under her father’s care, doctors had to contact Child Protection Services. Her grandparents became her foster parents, and later her adoptive parents.
According to her grandmother, Barbara, Caroline and her sister did not have a “safe or happy start” but things gradually changed once Caroline and her sister were adopted.
“I wanted to share Caroline’s past because, today, that frightened little girl has blossomed into an incredible young woman,” Barbara wrote to us at UMPS CARE.
By the time Caroline graduated high school at Gilbert Christian High School in Gilbert, Arizona, outside of Phoenix, he had emerged as a National Honors Society student, a member of women’s volleyball team and a woman passionate about music, particularly piano and choir. One of her favorite high school memories was being cast in a role in a school musical production of “Beauty and the Beast,” in which she was featured with several solo parts.
Caroline hopes to double major in psychology and elementary education at Colorado Christian. Her ultimate goal is to receive a master’s degree in psychology so she can pursue a career as a counselor. As difficult as her early childhood years were, she sees her upbringing as a way to help others.
“First and foremost, I just want to be able to help and serve those around me.” Caroline said. “I have always felt a ‘calling’ to become a counselor, since I have been through different things myself, and feel that I can use my experiences to help others.”
“I have been told that double majoring can be a challenge,” she added, “but I’m definitely up for the challenge.”
What makes the UMPS CARE All-Star College Scholarship unique is that in addition to the generous funding for a young adult to use toward a college education, it also includes ongoing mentorship and support from the Major League Baseball umpires and their family members. Each recipient receives gift packages, phone calls and assistance in addition to a meet and greet at a baseball game!
Caroline is looking forward to becoming part of the UMPS CARE family, and she knows the true value of the scholarship. Many parents who adopt children in their teens do not have the years to save for college education. This is where UMPS CARE steps in to support teens and families in these situations.
“Being adopted has changed the way I see things,” Caroline said. “I am a lot more grateful for the things I have because I have seen the other side.”
Special thanks to all of our sponsors, Deloitte and Marcum LLP, in addition to our UMPS CARE donors who make this All-Star College Scholarship Program such a success.
To learn more about the All-Star College Scholarship Program, click HERE.
