The Pastor Dennis K Butts Sr and Jewrusha V Butts Spirit of Excellence Scholarship Fund was founded by their two sons (Paul Butts Sr and Dennis Butts Jr) in 2001 as a way to honor their parents’ sacrifices throughout the years to ensure they had access to a quality education. What their parents poured into them, Paul and Dennis Jr wanted to pay forward by giving back to others. The organization became an official 501(c)3 after Pastor Dennis Butts, Sr passed away from a short battle with pancreatic cancer in 2016. The sons often say that pancreatic cancer took his life, but it could not take his legacy of love for all people, community involvement, racial reconciliation, and his passion for education. In 2016, the scholarship fund became the official vehicle to keep his legacy alive. It is amazing to see what has been achieved as generous donors and corporate sponsors continue to partner with us to:

1. Help more students gain access to a quality undergraduate education

2. Ignite passions in previous scholarship recipients to pursue advanced degrees in a variety of fields

3. Advance pancreatic research to discover an early detection test, thereby, enabling earlier treatment which can save more lives from this devastating disease

To date, the scholarship fund has awarded over $170,000 in scholarships to students in Northeast Ohio and contributed over $10,000 to pancreatic cancer research. We continue to make a huge difference together as we support students to achieve their dreams and empower them to exceed even their own expectations.