Student Scholars

​The Floyd Family Foundation has been a personal dream of mine since we began formally and informally working with students over 30 years ago in memory of my maternal grandparents, Earl and Ethel Floyd, and in honor of my mother, Sharon Floyd Turner. These three amazing people changed my life in the most positive way from the day I was born.

My grandfather, Earl Floyd, moved from a very modest farm in the small town of Tillatoba, Mississippi in Yalobusha County, where he was raised in extreme poverty during the depression, but with loving parents, to Memphis, Tennessee to provide a better life for his future family.

My grandfather sold educational encyclopedias from door to door in order to create a stable income and for the promise of a full set of encyclopedias each year for his family. My twin sister and I would wait anxiously for each and every volume to find out about the world, its leaders, people, cultures, animals, countries, and current events. Countless book reports were written as the secondary source (only source) for so many categories from the Yellow Fever, Nordic Vikings, John F, Kennedy, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and so many more. It expanded our knowledge, vocabulary, and interest. It was a priceless resource decades before the Internet.

My maternal grandmother, Ethel Townsend Floyd, married my grandfather after moving from a small town in Arkansas, where her mother raised 6 children during the depression. My great-grandmother, Olive Eva Townsend, introduced my mom to the world of reading, and my grandmother shared her love for art, creative outlets, and work ethic.

My maternal grandparents created a world for my twin sister and for me that would probably not have existed without their unconditional love, support, and sacrifice. They took us to school, cooked for us, made us laugh, created unparalleled stability, made sure we were given the same opportunities as every child, and never complained. To say they have remained my heroes to this day would be a grave understatement.

To my mother, Sharon Floyd Turner, thank you for never giving up. Thank you for loving us always even when the odds seemed insurmountable. Thank you for continuing on when everything you believed in was taken from you. Thank you for never allowing the "stigma" of being a single parent raising twins in the 70s and 80s was extremely ostracizing and limiting. You could have given up countless times. You could have walked away, but you did not. For that and so much more, you will always be my hero along with my grandmother and granddad.

It is my greatest honor to establish the Floyd Family Foundation today, March 20, 2022, in memory of my extraordinary grandparents, Earl and Ethel Floyd, and in honor of my courageous mother, Sharon Floyd Turner. 

Since our inception, a month has not passed where we did not offer educational scholarships to students in need who have lost parents, suffered unthinkable hardships, or worked multiple jobs to support themselves and their families. These scholarships have been offered confidentially (always), and shared by a decision-making team of three (3).

I am grateful every day for academic scholarships that supported my education throughout college and graduate school while also working.

My grandparents paid for our early childhood, elementary, and middle school education until my mother could move us to a neighborhood in order to attend a well-respected and competitive public high school. Even so, my sister and I started working young, and we worked throughout high school, college, graduate school, and until this day.

I will not rest until I can go to sleep at night knowing that EVERY child has the same opportunities regardless of the deck of cards life hands them.

We can assist in helping these wonderful children find the good in the deep valleys, and we can be the bridge that makes their dreams possible. For that and so much more, I am so grateful.

Will you please consider the FLOYD FAMILY FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP FUND as you plan for your future giving? All donations are tax-deductible, reported to the IRS, and recognized annually. All donors will be given an update on who they are helping and that student's progress. 

In closing, thank you in advance for creating a bridge of opportunity for EVERY child. What a blessing you are, and what a life-changing opportunity you are providing to extraordinary, courageous young people.