East
Penn School District's
Vincent Magnotta Memorial Wellness Scholarship
Dear Family and Friends,
We invite you to join us in an effort to benefit the youth of East Penn School District. Endorsed by the District, and in-line with its current wellness initiative, we ask you to become a founding contributor to the Vincent Magnotta Memorial Wellness Scholarship with a gift of $50 or more.
The goals of the scholarship are twofold: first, to memorialize our son, Vincent, a 1998 graduate of Emmaus High School who fell victim to a deadly cancer in 1999 and secondly, to provide funding for an annual scholarship awarded to an Emmaus High School senior. This will be based on personal fitness dedication - balanced by character and scholarship.
In order to begin our scholarship fund, we need your help…The goal is to raise $25,000 over 5-7 years to provide an annual scholarship in perpetuity. To provide the needed $ 7,000 seed money for the fund this year, Vince's family has pledged $ 2,000. We invite you to become one of the additional 100 donors we need to pledge $50 or more. We have included a form for your tax-deductible gift.
As you consider your gift, let us share with you a little bit of Vince's story …..
Dedication to Fitness
When young, Vince was very shy, but did play sports, somewhat reluctantly; also, he got a little chubby and lazy. One day in 9th grade, he said to his Mom and Dad, really out of nowhere…….. " I'm going to get fit". After this, he was relentless in his pursuit of personal fitness. He played on intramural basketball at Emmaus in his Jr. and Sr. years and worked out 4-5 times a week. He received the "Athlete of the Month" award at Sports Medicine in his senior year at Emmaus. Vince went on to play club rugby at Susquehanna University in his freshman year - and became a team emotional leader. We lost Vince to a rare cancer at the beginning of his sophomore year.
Vince's commitment to fitness clearly increased his self-esteem and confidence - in addition to achieving the physical benefits of exercise. The students at Susquehanna raised over $6000 in Vince's memory and the funds were used to rebuild the University's rugby field. The University President dedicated the field rebuilt in Vince's honor in May 2002 in a well-attended ceremony.
This Scholarship will assist the District in achieving Wellness & Fitness awareness - with a real success story from one of its graduates. Vince was not a sports star, just a regular kid whose life and health improved significantly with his dedication to wellness.
If you are interested to learn how Vince met his challenge, to read his personal Journal, and to see the sentiments expressed in his Guestbook, go to his web site at http://www.gusterzone.pair.com/vincircles/
Scholarship Criteria
An Emmaus High School Senior will be selected annually based on his/her personal fitness dedication - balanced by character and scholarship.
A Special Thank You
For your Founders contribution, you are invited to join Vince's family for a barbecue and pool party on 17 August 2002 in Allentown. We have some special activities planned too. Radio Station 102.1 FM (Phila) will be broadcasting live. Some exciting sports celebrities are donating their time to be with us. Upon receipt of your gift, we will send you all of the important details. There will also be a fun run…
Fun Run
An optional fun run will kick-off the 17 August event at Trexler Park. The Park will have several fitness stations that will invite you to "put out "( some exercise) or "put up"( some bucks), so be fit or be giving at these stations.
If you are a high school or college student, you are invited to collect pledges for your Fun Run prior to the event. Tax-deductible pledges should be made out to ….. If you collect over $30 of pledges, you are invited to join us for the barbecue. The student raising the most pledges will receive a complementary summer membership to Allentown Sports Medicine for 2003.
Please make pledge checks out to " East Penn School District Memorial Fund "; notation/memo = Vincent Magnotta
Join In
The goals of our intended scholarship are quite timely, given East Penn School District's commitment to endorse student wellness, coupled with President Bush's recently announced Healthier US initiative which cites, "Too many of America's youth do not exercise at all, are overweight, and have poor dietary habits."
Remember Vincent Magnotta, support the District's Wellness Initiative, and build awareness for the recently unveiled Healthier US program. And if you can …join us for a day of "Fun with Fitness" on 17 August.