Gas South donates $500,000 to support Florida schoolchildren

Gas South, one of the leading natural gas marketers in the Southeast, has contributed $500,000 to Step Up For Students, helping more than 65 Florida schoolchildren attend a K-12 school that best fits their learning needs.

This is the first year that Gas South has partnered with Step Up For Students, a nonprofit organization that helps manage the income-based Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program. The program, which is funded by tax-credited contributions from corporations, allows families to choose between a scholarship to support private school tuition and fees, or one that assists with transportation costs to a public school different than the one they are assigned.

“Our core purpose is to ‘Be A Fuel For Good,’ and one of the most important ways we achieve that is by impacting children in the communities we serve,” said Kevin Greiner, president and CEO of Gas South. “Education is a critical tool for our children to reach their full potential, and we are confident our partnership with Step Up For Students will provide life-changing opportunities for Florida schoolchildren.”

“We are grateful to have Gas South as a partner in our mission to help Florida students access the right education,” said Doug Tuthill, president of Step Up For Students. “With their support, even more schoolchildren will be able to access an education that fits their learning needs.”

In February 2019, the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, released results of a study on the effectiveness of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, the nation’s largest private K-12

scholarship program. The study found that students on scholarship for four or more years were up to 99% more likely to attend a four-year college than their peers in public school, and up to 45% more likely to earn bachelor’s degrees.

Since 2002, Step Up For Students has awarded more than 1 million Florida Tax Credit Scholarships. Nearly 2,000 private schools participate in the scholarship program statewide.