Foundation 44 honors Floyd Little’s legacy teaches personal success
After Floyd Little’s passing in 2021, his widow DeBorah started Foundation 44 in honor of his lifetime love of giving back to Syracuse children. The organization works with local schools, helping students develop leadership and organizational skills. Courtesy of DeBorah Little
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The number 44 is etched in Syracuse’s history, from the city’s zip code to the jersey numbers of many Syracuse University athletic legends, including former football star Floyd Little.
While mourning his death in 2021, DeBorah Little, Floyd’s wife, channeled her grief into community service, exploring ways to support children in Syracuse — something she said always brought Floyd joy.
To honor her late husband’s legacy, DeBorah Little launched Foundation 44, an organization in Syracuse dedicated to promoting and advancing student engagement and academic success through city school initiatives. The foundation offers four programs ranging in subject matter and engagement.
“I will not let them forget you easily,” DeBorah said of her husband. “I literally said that out loud to the spirit of Floyd’s love … So I started Foundation 44.”
In Syracuse and Las Vegas, Foundation 44’s main programming is Personal and Educational Development, which works with 175 students across four middle schools and five high schools in the region. 44PED teaches students to apply life and professional skills through a school-year-long project that requires them to identify a school issue in their school, pitch solutions and implement them, DeBorah said.
This spring, students from the foundation’s inaugural class will complete their first round of projects.
One of her favorite pitches was a student-founded school store at Lincoln Middle School where she said students, frustrated by shortages, now sell food and school supplies to their peers.
“We spend the rest of the school year talking about the plan and the strategy to be successful in their project, but parallel to that, we teach them the plan and the strategy to be successful in their life, because the process is the same,” DeBorah said.
Teachers at these schools have taken over the role of ambassadors to help students stay on track and assist DeBorah in classroom management. Frank Smith, a local high school teacher and Foundation 44 ambassador, said he recruits students from the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central and supports them throughout their project.
Echoing DeBorah, he said the project is structured similarly to a job and teaches students punctuality, collaboration and public speaking.
“The programming is very advantageous to their well-being as a young adult,” Smith said. “I like how it feeds the students’ minds and it gets them to creatively think.”
The program is already getting positive feedback from educators, she added, who report increasing students’ motivation and participation in class after participating in the foundation’s programming.
One student’s attendance drastically improved after joining Foundation 44 programs, said Kelsey Wilder, an English language teacher and ambassador at LMS. Wilder said she attributes this increase to the weekly meetings and incentives Deborah offers, including gift cards for students with perfect attendance.
Surya Vaidy | Staff Photographer
Foundation 44 is dedicated to promoting and advancing student engagement and academic success through city school initiatives. The foundation offers four programs ranging in subject matter and engagement, with Personal and Educational Development being the main one in Syracuse. DeBorah Little pictured.
“They’ve been more driven and they feel like they’re a part of a community that they’re building something bigger than just maybe completing their normal class work,” Wilder said.
As she’s observed students in the program, Wilder said students have developed stronger leadership skills by taking on intricate roles and managing their teams. They also gain perseverance and accountability after going through multiple rounds of trial and error before they pitch to their school principal.
Smith agreed, adding that the pitching process is crucial for building students’ confidence and drive, helping them articulate their ideas into profitable, constructive plans. When discussing LMS’s newly founded store, DeBorah praised students not only for their hard work but for the noticeable impact the store has had at the middle school.
“It’s a good tool to teach the students how to actually articulate themselves and teach them how to get up in front of a crowd and public speak and really pitch what they really want. Because they say in life, ‘you don’t get what you deserve,’ you get what you negotiate,” Smith said.“So if you can negotiate yourself and sell yourself, then sky’s the limit.”
Beyond helping kids excel academically, DeBorah said she is passionate about building connections with her students. She always remembers the difficult home lives many Syracuse children face and ensures she fully supports them while they’re under her care.
As part of this effort, Foundation 44 has also garnered support from local restaurants, such as Pies Guys, which provides meals for LMS every Thursday, DeBorah said.
While she misses Floyd, DeBorah said working with students reminds her of her husband’s love of “talking and inspiring the youth.” In naming the program after him, DeBorah said her team strives to embody his beliefs and character.
“I can’t imagine a better life without Floyd,” she said. “But I’m being told that there is one, and I absolutely love what I do and I love these kids. I get the best hugs.”
