The For Scout Foundation has been created by the Cantrell Family, of St. Charles, IL, to honor the life and legacy of their beloved daughter and sister, Scout Cantrell (2004-2014). This foundation has been established to provide charitable grants and financial support to organizations that carry on the legacy of Scout Cantrell.
Scout was born on November 29th, 2004. She was a beautiful, kind, caring, smart, athletic, creative 9 year old girl who loved life and laughter and loving people and animals, and being loved in return. She was a friend to everyone and she loved singing and dancing and playing with all of her friends. She was a smart and creative student at Wasco Elementary, where her creativity and thirst for learning were limitless. Whatever community service project the school elected to do, Scout was always one of the first to sign up, and the most fervent of champions for whatever the cause may be. She was a member of their Spirit Club, their Garden Club, and she played viola for their Orchestra.
Scout was an extremely gifted athlete, but perhaps she was most gifted at her favorite sport, swimming. She was a competitive swimmer on the St. Charles Swim Team and proud member of their Regional Swim Team. The weekend before she passed, she had swum lifetime best swims in all her events, especially the butterfly which she was naturally gifted at.
Even at the tender age of 9, Scout knew she wanted to go to Duke University to study to become a veterinarian (on her days off from being an Olympic swimmer). She rescued several animals and was a proud supporter of local animal shelters, donating to them often. All of her pets were rescue pets. She also enjoyed working at the Northern Illinois Food Bank with her big sister, Katie, trying to help those in need. Scout’s goal in life was “to make the world a little bit better place.”
Scout loved the color pink, all kinds of sweets, fairies of all kinds, and all Disney movies. She loved playing and drawing and creating and inventing. She loved her schoolmates, and teammates, and each and every one of her friends, and they all loved her back immensely. She was the beloved granddaughter of Stephen and Sharon Lohm. But most of all, she loved her family, and they loved her back, and the family motto of ILYBTTS-I Love You Bigger Than The Sky will hold true forever for their beautiful Scout.
On October 29th, 2014 Scout passed away from complications from an asthma attack. She left this earth in peace, with dignity, grace, and respect, being held lovingly by her father Tony, her mother Felicity, and her sister, Katie. True to Scout’s compassionate soul, her final gift on this earth was a donation to Gift Of Hope to help others in need.
Tony, Felicity, and Katie Cantrell have established the For Scout Foundation to help the community Scout loved, and the causes she believed in, simply put “to make the world a little bit better place.” On the anniversary every month, it has become a ritual now to ask people to be a little kinder, to give an extra hug, to say an extra “I love you.” And Scout’s family always asks that you “do it for you, do it for the other people, do it for Scout.” And so the For Scout Foundation has proudly been established to honor the life and legacy of a beautiful, amazing, loving little girl – to honor Scout Cantrell.
The For Scout Foundation has been recognized by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for its work in the community and the way we honor Scout. Through work in our schools, and events like our Crosstown Swim Meets for Scout and our Annual Social for Scout, the For Scout Foundation is always looking to spread Scout’s message of love, bravery, and inclusion for all. She was a remarkable little girl, and all of you who support our events are remarkable as well.
What We Support
The For Scout Foundation was established to honor Scout’s spirit and legacy, but truly to help and support the causes that Scout believed in and did charity work for while she was alive. Through financial support and grants, our Foundation would support a variety of causes, including local animal shelters. Scout did supply drives and supported our local shelters, and in fact, all of our pets are rescue pets because of Scout. We will support reading and arts programs in our local schools, as Scout’s favorite place was in the classroom, and we want our schools to have the tools they need to inspire that same love of learning that Scout had. Our Foundation supports the American Asthma Foundation, as they are one of the leading not for profit foundations doing science-based groundbreaking work in the field of Asthma Research. Scout would have loved that it was science based. And lastly, we will be supporting local aquatic programs to help instill both a love of swim and water safety programs for the less fortunate children in our area. The Scout Cantrell Learn to Swim Program has been established already to offer free swim lessons to those children in our community who could not otherwise afford them, and as needed, support them as they develop in their swim careers.
We have given 51 different arts and music in classrooms in St. Charles more than $85,000 in grants that allowed them to purchase new books, new instruments, new art supplies, new equipment.
We have donated nearly $18,000 in supplies and donations to Anderson Animal Shelter and with that donation helped rescue and place almost 30% more animals than the previous year.
We have donated nearly $20,000 from For Scout to the American Asthma Foundation to make sure that funding is going directly to scientific research to find a cure for asthma. In addition, Katie helped donate more than $7,000 to the American Asthma Foundation with her amazing Thompson Middle School classmates.
We have established the Scout Cantrell Scholarship Program and the Scout Cantrell Learn To Swim Program so that any child in our community who wishes to learn to swim or to participate in St. Charles Aquatics Programs can do so without worry of financial burden. We have given $20,000 to the Scout Cantrell Aquatic Scholarship Program at Norris Center; we have also given the St. Charles Park District $10,000 to establish the Scout Cantrell Learn to Swim Program at Otter Cove and Swanson Pool.
In addition, we have donated two brand new pieces of ADA-compliant playground equipment valued at over $10,000 into the Wasco Playground so that all our friends can have a new place to play without anyone ever feeling excluded.
Please click one of the links below to read more about the impact of the For Scout Foundation.
Cantrell teams with St. Charles Park District to help autistic children | Daily Herald
Girl’s Swimming: I know that she’s with me | Kane County Chronicle
Swimming: Katie Cantrell, St. Charles North come together with St. Charles East for crosstown meet | Kane County Chronicle
St. Charles schools team up for great cause | Daily Herald
Family Of St. Charles Girl, 9, Who Died Donates To Park District |St. Charles, IL Patch
“My Love for Scout” by Felicity Cantrell in support of American Asthma Foundation | Giving Tuesday
