Turning grief into giving back: How a FedEx shooting victim’s memory is honored through sports

AVON, Ind. — 32-year-old Matt Alexander was among those who lost their lives in the deadliest mass shooting in Indiana’s history.

Since then, his family has encouraged others to, as they say, “live a good story,” emphasizing that Matt’s didn’t end three years ago.

“He was just a good, good guy. He was a good employee at FedEx. Everybody there loved him,” said Debbie Alexander, Matt’s mother. “We even had one gentleman that drove over nine hours from Texas to come to his viewing. And he had never met Matt, he had just talked to him on the phone. We didn’t really realize how much of an impact our son had made until this happened.”

On April 15, 2021, a former employee showed up at an Indianapolis FedEx facility with a gun and began shooting. He killed eight people, including Matt Alexander.

“You never think you’re going to be burying your child. It’s the other way around,” said Brad Alexander, Matt’s father. “It’s tough, but we have our faith.”

“It was a very restless night for both of us,” Debbie recalled. “When we woke up early that next morning, I said, ‘Brad, are you awake? What can we do in lieu of flowers?’ Because Matt wasn’t a flower guy.”

Matt’s parents say one thing is for sure – he was a baseball guy.

“He lived it, breathed it, played it,” Brad said.

That’s where the idea to start a scholarship fund in Matt’s name came from, only one day after the tragedy. Now, every year, the family picks a young Avon baseball player who they feel exemplifies qualities on and off the field that were important to Matt.

“I feel like me and Cam just really want to inspire people to do what the motto says and live a good story,” said Christopher Kondas, a 2022 scholarship recipient.

“We grew up playing baseball together. Just being able to share that with their family and share our love for this game, it’s unreal,” said Cameron Schubert, also a 2022 scholarship recipient.

His memory lives on through new stories being told, and an annual softball tournament that funds the scholarship – which has grown over time. Four teams registered the first year. 22 are competing this weekend – including 13 teams comprised of FedEx employees.

It caught the attention of Stewart-Haas Racing, who donated a car hood featuring Caitlin Clark to auction at the fundraiser.

“Every penny goes to Matt’s scholarship,” Brad said. “We’re just trying to help younger kids that may not have the opportunity or financially have the means to continue.”

“The love and support that we’ve gotten from family and friends, our community, and the FedEx family – if it wasn’t for that, I don’t know where we’d be,” Debbie said.

Matt wore the number #16 on his jersey, which Avon High School’s baseball team has since retired in his memory. As such, the family chose $1,600 as the scholarship award amount. You can learn more about it here.