GCEAF

GCEAF Information

The inaugural (2002) Chick-fil-A Classic tournament was much more successful financially than expected. The hope for the first tournament was to just break even with expenses. After everything was said and done, the tournament made a profit of about 3,000 the first year. From this came the vision of using the proceeds after expenses to provide educational scholarships to deserving students who live within the Greater Columbia area. 

As a result, in 2003 the Greater Columbia Educational Advancement Foundation (GCEAF, pronounced gee-cef) was formed as a 501 (c)3 charitable organization with the mantra of “Advancing Education through Athletics”. Their primary mission was and is today to provide educational scholarships to deserving students who live within the Greater Columbia area. Proceeds after expenses from the Chick-fil-A Classic go to help support this mission.

After the completion of the 2003 tournament, a total of $4,000 in educational scholarship money was awarded to deserving students.

Over the years the amount has been increased upward of $18,000 in some years. Over the years, GCEAF has awarded over $200,000 in educational scholarships to deserving students.  

Please partner with us. Your help is needed to keep this program active for our student athletes. 

Business sponsorships are our main source of revenue to generate monies for educational scholarships. If your business would like to support the GCEAF and its mission, please consider becoming an advertising sponsor of the Chick-fil-A Classic Holiday Basketball Tournament. If your company does not advertise, but you would like to support us financially, we would be grateful for a charitable donation. A letter acknowledging your contribution will be sent back to you for your records. 

Details concerning business sponsorship opportunities can be found within our “Sponsors” link. Please take a moment to review.