Kdmf News-FW14-email - The Katie DeCubellis Memorial

KATIE DECUBELLIS MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
P.O. BOX 3188
NARRAGANSETT, RI 02882-0796
www.kdmf.org
“her life still shines…”
FALL/WINTER NEWSLETTER
2014
The Harvest Moondance Gala - A Marvelous Night
It truly Was a marvelous night on September 13, 2014 as The KDMF hosted The Harvest Moondance Gala
Fundraiser. At the Dunes Club in Narragansett looking over the scenic Narragansett Bay, friends and loyal supporters of
The KDMF came together to celebrate together and continue Katie’s mission & legacy.
Guests dined on a fabulous menu provided by The Dunes Club in a ball room dressed to welcome autumn. Meg
DeCubellis’s beautiful design with support from McKay’s Furniture gave The Dunes Club a golden glow. A fabulous dinner menu was only surpassed by an outstanding dessert table designed by former board member and friend, Lori Winter. It featured goodies donated by Brickley’s Ice Cream and Chelo’s Desserts. Dance music was provided by Nancy
Paolino and the Black Tie Band and DJ Uli Gallman kept the crowd dancing the night away. Additional entertainment
was provided by The Harvard University a capella group The Opportunes who wooed the crowd with song and dance!
A fabulous silent auction was held in the Rotunda Room which featured gift baskets and items donated by local businesses from all over New England. Board member, Beth Powers DeSista worked her magic to ensure that the presentation was breathtaking and that check out was seamless.
The KDMF Board of Directors and The Gala Committee would like to thank all who made this night a huge success; a special Thank You to all attendees for sharing this night of music and dance. The raffle and silent auction would
not have been possible without the donations from local businesses and friends who are always there to help carry on
our mission of promoting youth leadership, supporting education, and generating public awareness of the dangers of
drunk driving and substance abuse.
You can view more photos at www.kdmf.org
2014 Scholarship Recipients
Since its inception, the KDMF scholarship program has
grown considerably. As we grew, our ability to reach out statewide
has also grown. In an attempt to extend our efforts statewide,
every year, the KDMF awards four (4) different types of scholarships to deserving students throughout Rhode Island: the “KDMF
Memorial Scholarship”, “Victim Relief Scholarship”, “Make a Difference Scholarship” and “Nobody’s Glory . . . Everybody’s Gain
Scholarship”. Annually, the KDMF awards at least $10,000 in
scholarships to Rhode Island students. To date, the KDMF has
awarded more than $130,000.00 in scholarships to graduating
high school seniors.
The “KDMF Memorial Scholarship” is a $1,000, 4-year renewable scholarship, awarded to a high school senior and Narragansett resident, who best exemplifies Katie’s spirit of compassion,
dedication, leadership and community service. We are privileged
to have met extraordinary students over the years that have excelled in the classroom and their community through academics
and outreach programs. One bright star, GRACE CASTRO of
Narragansett High School’s Class of 2014 was awarded the 15 th
Annual Memorial Scholarship.
Unfortunately, there are still many instances of people driving
under the influence of drugs and alcohol with many victims and
their families impacted by their negligence. KDMF has committed
to providing financial support to those impacted by drunk drivers
through our “Victim Relief Scholarship”. This $1,000 award is given annually to a student(s) whose live has been impacted physically, emotionally or financially by an incident involving an impaired individual. Last spring, we were honored to award this
Scholarship to a very inspirational and resilient young man,
VINCENT RUGGIERI from the North Kingstown Senior High
School. Tragically, Vincent’s brother, Michael, and his friend Maddie Healey were killed by a drunk driver.
The KDMF also recognizes the achievements of those high
school students who go above and beyond to make their school
community a better place. Every school has those special students…the “doers” who are always there to lend a hand and
who can be counted on to step up and get the job done. With
that in mind, the KDMF created the “Nobody’s Glory…
Everybody’s Gain Scholarship” to recognize all the work and
sacrifice some students make to improve their school community, yet do so with little fanfare and/or recognition. Because of
the number of accomplished applicants who generally apply, we
award at least two, $1,000 scholarships annually. It is always a
pleasure to meet these students and present their awards to
them and is a great reminder of why we have committed ourselves to this cause. Three deserving students stood out in
2014 for their commitment to excellence. NICOLE LUIZ of Warwick Veterans Memorial High School, JARED PODMASKA of
Johnston High School and SARAH THOMPSON of Smithfield
High School were each awarded the 8th Annual KDMF
“Nobody’s Glory…Everybody’s Gain” Scholarships”.
Finally, we round out the KDMF scholarship awards with
three, $1,000 “Make a Difference” Scholarships”. These scholarships are awarded annually to students who best exemplify
the ability to make a difference in their community through leadership, commitment and active involvement in their school’s
SADD or other school organization that specifically targets substance abuse prevention and awareness as well as good decision making. In 2014, the 9th Annual KDMF “Make a Difference
Scholarships” were presented to STEPHANIE FORLINI of
Cranston High School West, CASSANDRA MIECH of South
Kingstown High School and JARED RAMOS of Mount Hope
High School for their work within their respective schools.
Meet our newest Junior Board Members
Ryan Doyle is a freshman at South Kingstown
Kaleigh Miech is a junior at South Kingstown
High School. She is a co-founder of the middle school's
SADD program, a member of the South Kingstown Partnership for Prevention coalition, a founding member of
their Junior Coalition at the high school, and now a Junior
member of KDMF! She plays tennis, is the newly elected
president of the class of 2018 at SKHS, and volunteers
regularly at the South Kingstown Animal Shelter. In her
spare time, she loves to travel and spend time with friends
and family.
High School. She plays on the the high school's tennis
team and is a member of the National Honor Society. She
is very involved with the STAAND (Students Taking Action Against Negative Decisions) group at her school, and
with the South Kingstown Partnership for Preventions's
Youth Coalition. Kaleigh is also a member of VAASA, is
on the MADD Youth Advisory Board, and a new junior
member on the KDMF board! In her spare time, she likes
to spend time with her family and friends.
KDMF CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST
We would like to announce the twelfth annual statewide contest involving creative writing. This year’s topic is “Positive Change”.
Katie’s legacy lives on because her parent’s made the choice to use her tragic
accident as an opportunity to bring about positive change. Create a negative
situation and find a way to take the story in a positive direction. The negative
situation can involve a traffic accident or involve things such as fear, hate or
cruelty.
Bruce DeSilva, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who has also won the Polk
Award (twice), the Livingston Award (twice) and the Edgar and Macavity
Awards, is this year’s celebrity Judge.
The KDMF is also proud to announce that for the third year AAA Southern New
England has joined forces with KDMF as their corporate sponsor for the contest.
Entries should be mailed to:
KDMF Creative Writing Contest, c/o Joel S. Chase
300 Metro Center Boulevard, Suite 150A
Warwick, RI 02886
Submission Deadline: Postmarked by March 27, 2015. Complete contest
details are available at www.kdmf.org. You may also contact Joel Chase at
739-9900. Visit the KDMF Facebook page for updates and to post comments.
Winners will be notified two weeks prior to the Awards Ceremony, which
will be held at the Warwick Mall on May 18, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
2014 KDMF Road Race
Katie was on the minds of many runners and walkers on Sunday, June 8, during the thirteenth annual Katie DeCubellis 5k Memorial Road Race which began at Narragansett High School
under clear blue skies.
The racers, wearing illumiNITE printed green t-shirts with the Katie DeCubellis Foundation
logo on the front, followed a path up South Pier Road which then crossed over into the center of town
where water stations were set up. Race participants continued up Narragansett Avenue to Kingstown
Road, crossed over to Boon Street and back to South Pier Road into the high school parking lot
where a finish line bash was already taking place.
Raffle prizes were on full display and tickets were being sold to win some amazing gifts.
Special thanks go to so many local businesses for their generous donations of products and gift certificates! Food from various local vendors was arriving including ice cream from Brickley’s (which is ALWAYS a big hit with runners young and old) and pizza & hot dogs from Kingstown Pizza, Fat Jacks
Pizza Shack and Tase Rite in Wakefield.
Once again as we reflect on this event, we want to thank EVERYONE who participated in
this years 5k Road Race and Walk. None of this would be possible without the support and generosity
of all involved!
Please send us your email address at www.kdmf.org
To stay informed!
Please “like” us on Facebook to keep updated
and see all our event photos and more at
Katie DeCubellis Memorial Foundation
Thanks so much.
Creative Writing Contest
Submission Deadline: March 27, 2015
Awards Ceremony: May 18, 2015
14th Annual KDMF Road Race June 7, 2015
... her life still shines