Eddie Armstrong Scholarship Foundation

Our Story

For three young men growing up in North Little Rock opportunities were sparse. Eddie Armstrong, Rodney Nathan and Patrick Vaden all grew up within a mile of each other. They supported each other through tough times while working to keep each other on the straight and narrow. All three of them entered college at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where they met Jimmy Scales. Jimmy grew up in Hughes, Arkansas, under similar circumstances as the others. The three quickly bonded with Jimmy and formed a tight friendship. This bond lasted past college even as each of the young men took different paths.
In 2003, Eddie was on a plane returning from a speaking engagement in Washington when he read "The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream." He was inspired by the story of three boys who grew up in a tough New Jersey neighborhood that made a pact to support each other, go to college and become doctors. These men now head a foundation and a scholarship fund geared to help give opportunities to kids that grew up in similar situations.
Eddie's inspiration led him to start researching nonprofit organizations. He called on his three friends to help him make his idea a reality, and they came through. All four now live and work together in pursuit of their goal to make a difference in their corner of the world.

Eddie Armstrong 28 - North Little Rock, AR
	"If not me, then who? I don't think I can change the world, but hopefully I can have some impact on this little corner I'm living in."*

Jimmy Scales 29 - Hughes, AR
	"It's the right thing to do. All of us can relate. We don't want to see other kids come from the tough situations we did and be put in the position (of lacking skills)."*

Patrick Vaden 30 - North Little Rock, AR
	"A young person who's never been on their own needs someone to look out for them. Growing up in North Little Rock, where there were few opportunities for us, it would have been so easy to go down the path of selling drugs, sleeping around, having kids out of wedlock. We decided to keep each other on the straight and narrow path."*

Rodney Nathan 29 - North Little Rock, AR
	"This is always something we talked about doing, helping kids that grew up like us. I made a promise to Eddie that when he called I would be there to help make this a success."

Upcoming Events

Eddie featured in Denzel Washington's debut book.

In his debut as an author, Denzel Washington shares his personal story of the mentors who helped guide his life.

Washington pens the introduction for the stories of more than 70 of America's leading personalities in theater, sports, business and politics as they tell their life-changing stories of mentorship.