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For students who experience foster care, homelessness, or the incarceration of a parent, college education can seem as unreachable as the stars, a path reserved for other kids. In recent decades, the number of mothers in prison has skyrocketed, largely for drug or other nonviolent offenses. Children in protective services, meanwhile, are being shuffled from foster home to foster home, in some cases more than fifty times.

First Chance tells the remarkable stories of students from severely troubled backgrounds who - when given an opportunity - succeed in the college classroom.

"An inspiring message of resilience, hope and triumph for kids raised with painful adversities." - Hoda Kotb, co-anchor, NBC Today

"For those facing the longest odds, ‘First Chance’ is a riveting journey from troubled homes to college classrooms." - Robin McGraw, NYT best-selling author and wife of Dr. Phil McGraw

Working Class to College: The Promise and Peril Facing Blue-Collar America

By Robert Owen Carr with Dirk Johnson

Drawing on the research and experience of Give Back, this book addresses the struggles and valiant efforts of students to overcome financial adversity and other hardships. Carr, a first-generation college student himself, outlines strategies to chart a successful and affordable college path.

"All kids need is a little help, a little hope and someone who believes in them. Working Class to College shows how hardship can translate to scholarship." - Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, NBA Hall of Famer and advocate for underserved urban communities

"Working Class to College shines a light on students who have everything but money. Against a backdrop of crushing student debt and heartbreaking dropout rates, this book examines the pitfalls and pathways from humble backgrounds to ivory towers." - Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the Washington, DC, public schools, and founder of Students First and TNTP

"It’s a rare man who acknowledges that his accomplishments are to be shared with others. Bob Carr is such a man. One person at one organization made a small gift toward Bob’s education, but more importantly, Bob knew someone believed in him. Fast forward and thousands of kids are getting a college education, and more importantly they all know someone believes in them enough to invest in them. Bob is a special man, and this is a special story about appreciation, success and giving back." - Peter Mallouk, JD, CFP, MBA – President and Chief Investment Officer, Creative Planning, Inc.

Through the Fires: An American Business Story of Turbulence, Business Triumph and Giving Back

By Robert Owen Carr with Dirk Johnson

A triumphant story of humility, possibility, breakthrough, and giving back that inspires readers to embrace the hope and promise that life is never an impossibility. Robert Carr reflects on decades of struggle that took him to the brink of financial ruin at age fifty after one of the most devastating data breaches ever. Carr’s story is a vulnerable and honest depiction of stay true to the values that supported the turbulent times which allowed him to breakthrough in business, life, and in doing good for others.

“A book that defines what it means to overcome adversity in business and life.” - Mitch Albom, author of “Tuesdays with Morrie” and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”

Selected in Mitch Albom’s Top 15 Book Recommendations

"Though the Fires is the story of a never-give-up entrepreneur who triumphs after age fifty…and the life-changing reason he is giving away a fortune.” - Tony Robbins, #1 New York Times best-selling author, life and business strategist, entrepreneur and philanthropist

“One of the most fascinating books I’ve read in a long time.” - Rick Kogan, Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and host of “After Hours with Rick Kogan,” on WGN Radio

Profiles in Compassion: Volunteering for a Meaningful Life: The Rewards of Helping Others

By Robert Owen Carr with Dirk Johnson

Enlightening, moving and sometimes light-hearted, Profiles in Compassion tells the inspiring stories of people who volunteer for causes that change and even rescue lives. In doing good works, these volunteers often save themselves, too. As authors Dirk Johnson and Robert O. Carr illustrate, these are people who answer crisis line calls at three in the morning, visit elderly people who ache with loneliness, counsel those with eating disorders or gambling addictions, partner with therapy dogs to bring joy to disabled children, use their hammers and nails to build wheelchair ramps for homebound people of modest means.

Volunteers have shaped the nation’s history, from the Underground Railroad to the suffrage movement to efforts to curb climate change. Twelve-step groups rely on volunteers, as do basketball leagues in neighborhoods where violent street gangs lurk. The health and emotional benefits of volunteering are clear. Study after study has found it brings lower blood pressure, a sense of purpose, longer lives.

Media

Releases

11.05.2023 | WGLT Radio |Give Something Back visits ISU to celebrate 20 years of sending students to college

11.04.2023 | 25News Now | Give Something Back scholarship changed the life of a student at ISU

03.02.2022 | Shawnee Mission Post | This Johnson County couple’s $3M donation is paying for 150 students’ college education

03.01.2022 | KMBC-TV | Peter and Veronica Mallouk Honored by Give Something Back

03.01.2022 | KCTV-TV | Give Back Kansas Honors Peter and Veronica Mallouk

12.08.2021 | WNCT-TV | Give Back Careers Program set to begin in the fall

11.28.2018 | How Donors Can Do Better than Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 Billion for College Tuition | Opinion

11.08.2018 | Mallouk Family Gives $3M to Fund 150 Full-Ride Scholarships

11.01.2018 | Local Businessman Sends 50 Kids to College

07.21.2018 | 48 Bridgeton kids benefit from ‘Give Back’ scholarships