NFL player and McKees Rocks-native Damar Hamlin was in Pittsburgh yesterday to announce the expansion of his Heroes Scholarship program to underserved Pittsburgh students.
Hamlin’s Chasing M’s Foundation will fund 10 $1,000 scholarships to his alma mater, Central Catholic High School in Oakland. The Buffalo Bills safety will also fund several scholarships for students attending trade or vocational schools.
“People have different dreams, and we want to support people alongside whatever their passions are,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin’s foundation operates two similar scholarship programs in Buffalo and Cincinnati. The Heroes Scholarship honors the 10 medical professionals who attended to Hamlin after he suffered a cardiac arrest on the field in 2023.
Hamlin received a scholarship in 2013 to attend Central Catholic before going on to play for the Pitt Panthers from 2016 to 2020. He was drafted by the Bills in 2021.
“And knowing that some people seen and believed in me as a young kid — to be able to provide that, I know how far that will go,” he said.
Hamlin’s Chasing M’s Foundation has also worked to improve heart health education in Pittsburgh and around the country. He worked alongside federal lawmakers to help pass a bill requiring public K-12 schools to develop cardiac emergency response plans and provide grants to support the purchase of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and CPR training.
The deadline for scholarship applications is May 1.
Hamlin has received an outpouring of support, especially here in his hometown of Pittsburgh, where friends and teammates call him a role model.