Send checks to:
Merrill Lynch
780 North Western Avenue
Lake Forest, IL 60045
Attn: Ellie Burns Foundation



The Ellie Burns Foundation is a
501(c)(3) organization recognized as a public charity.

About Our Cause

The Ellie Burns Foundation was established to honor Ellie Burns. Ellie was a remarkable young woman, with an immensely strong sense of self and lively sense of humor, who felt most at home in nature, had a passion for helping others, never feared trying new things and was always up for adventure. We are devoted to preserving Ellie’s legacy by providing deserving high school students with the opportunity to participate in outdoor education activities and/or community service experiences, which were greatly important to Ellie. These opportunities will allow the scholarship recipients to achieve personal goals, such as developing a sense of independence (particularly in nature), respecting the environment, building character, achieving personal growth, enhancing leadership skills, gaining cultural awareness, becoming involved in the local and world community and/or providing aid to others who are less fortunate. The achievement of these goals will pay respect to Ellie’s memory, as well as provide the scholarship recipients with the tools necessary to become productive members of society and meaningfully contribute to their communities.



"The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."

-Into the Wild, John Krakauer