Throughout their 10-year career in broadcasting, radio personalities and brothers Doug and Ryan Stewart of the nationally syndicated sports talk show, The 2 Live Stews, have stood tall as community activists, serving as mentors for hundreds of youths along with being advocates for higher education.
The cornerstone of their benevolent work is The Stewart Education Foundation, and this past weekend, the brothers hosted a fundraiser at the Bill Lowe Art Gallery on Peachtree Street to raise awareness of their program.
Created in 2010, The Stewart Education Foundation is an independent public charity and sustained by contributions from educators, corporate sponsors and other supporters of public education.
The Stewart Education Foundation offers grants and programs that support educators' efforts to close the achievement gaps, increase classroom innovations, provide professional development, and salute excellence in education for young African American men.
“The Bill Lowe Art Gallery is incredible. A lot of people came out and it’s for a purpose. We’re trying to increase efforts when it comes to helping with mentoring and sending kids to school,” said Ryan. “The foundation has been blessed and this is a wonderful event.”
Ryan’s older brother and co-host, Doug, followed up these sentiments about event and their charitable organization.
“It’s always good to give back helping young black males get into college and assist with their tuition,” he said. “My brother and I have been mentoring for about eight years with Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta,” he said. “Our show is based on brothers. We’re brothers in our fraternity (Omega Psi Phi) and brothers in real life. So we always figured it would be good to have a brotherly role model in your life and it spun off to our foundation.”
During the festivities, The Stewart Education Foundation presented a $2,000 check to the Commitment to Excellence Foundation’s Black Rhinos mentoring program.
“This money is going to help with our college tours. We’re looking to expand our program to expose young men to college opportunities. This is going to helping that dream come true,” said Kenny Howard, staff member with the Black Rhinos. “This means a lot to us to partner up with the Stewart Foundation and be a recipient of this award so we can expand a do a lot more for the kids.”
Doug and Ryan Stewart’s daily sports talk show, The 2 Live Stews, is syndicated in 37 markets and airs locally on sports radio 790 The Zone from 1-4 p.m. This fall, they will celebrate their 10th anniversary working as on-air personalities.
