FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – A West Florence High School baseball player, who recently started a scholarship foundation, just gave away two big checks to two fellow student athletes.
Ryan Florio began the K24 Foundation a few months ago. For every strikeout he got this year, he donated $10 to the foundation. And four local businesses agreed to match that. Florio raised the money after getting 43 strikeouts this year.
Last week, he presented one female athlete, Annabelle Tedder, and one male athlete, Tyzahn Lawson, with a $1,000 check each. Tedder is heading to Clemson in the fall and Lawson will be playing football for Newbury College. Florio says his foundation is all about helping others, inspiring people to dream big, and make people smile.
“Seeing people smile and be happy, that’s one thing that I love. I always say ‘help somebody else, not yourself.’ Just being able to help people, nothing can beat it. Nothing on the baseball field, nothing academically,” said Florio.
After graduation, Florio will attend Mt. Saint Mary’s University in Maryland where he will play Division 1 baseball. He’s also taking his philanthropic spirit with him and has no plans to end the K24 Foundation any time soon.
“I will continue it for as long as I can. Whatever I can get strikeout-wise next year and in the next four years, I will continue that and even after college baseball, if pro baseball isn’t in my future, I’ll still be donating money to the foundation. We’ll find ways to keep this going for as long as we can,” he said.
Florio says the main message of the K24 Foundation is “dream big, never quit, and always believe in yourself.”
If you’d like to donate or learn more about the K24 Foundation, click here.