Fundraiser for Brittney Walsh Memorial Fund Set for Saturday

The First Annual Rock n Bowl Fundraiser for the Brittney Walsh Memorial Fund is set for Saturday, October 20, at 8 p.m. at Deer Park Bowl.

The Memorial Fund
Brittney Walsh was the Lindenhurst teen who was killed in a June 24 car crash on Montauk Highway by alleged drunk driver Michael Grasing of Babylon.

Right after her tragic death the Walsh family set up the Memorial Fund.

Fliers announcing the memorial fund were placed on tables along with prayer cards at the Claude R. Boyd-Spencer Funeral Home in Babylon, where Walsh was waked and eulogized following her death by Pastor Lee Gangaware of the Grace United Methodist Church in Lindenhurst.

The fliers urged support of the Walsh family by supporting the Memorial Fund, and since then the Fund has reached the $20,000 mark, and is still going, according to Tom Walsh, Brittney's father.

"Things have slowed down some for we are planning a rock and bowl in Deer Park on October 20," he wrote in a recent e-mail to Patch.

"We have a website set up, www.smile14.org, with details while an official fancier site is being built," he added.

Fundraiser Details
According to the website, the Rock n Bowl Fundraiser is set for 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. this Saturday at the Deer Park bowling alley. Tickets in advance are $20 each, and tickets at the door are $25 each. Kids who are 10 years old and younger get in for free.

For that, the website said, there'll be four hours of unlimited bowling, free shoe rental, a Chinese auction, a 50/50 raffle, a live band, unlimited soda and a cash bar.

"For cash donations and tickets go to www.smile14.org, or mail to the Brittney Walsh Memorial Fund, 172 West Lido Promenade, Lindenhurst, NY 11757," the website said.

(Click here for more information, and see also the accompanying images.)

Offering Scholarships
The family, according to Tom Walsh, has spoken to a financial planner to ensure the Fund yields enough dividends to continue provide scholarships to local high school seniors.

"Some of the criteria to receive the scholarships are a child who participates in track (a sport in which Brittney was involved), and another in soccer with the writing component being a 250-word easy about the funniest thing you ever saw or the funniest thing you ever did, since we haven't laughed in a while," he explained.

Scholarship details are also posted here on the Fund's website.

Proceeds from Saturday's fundraiser will go toward the family's goal to offer scholarships through the Memorial Fund.

In Brittney’s Honor
And just recently Walter G. O'Connell Copiague High School - where Brittney graduated two days before her death in June - held a Memorial Game in Brittney’s honor.

After learning of her death in June, in a statement the Copiague Board of Education and School District expressed condolences and underscored highlights of Brittney's school career - including participating in the varsity club, varsity soccer, Winter and Spring track, National Honor Society, student council, chorus and ecology club, graduating with an Advanced Regents Diploma and intending to attend York College this Fall.

Her mother, Cheryl Walsh, wrote in an e-mail to Patch about the Copiague High School's recent Memorial Game, it was "the girls’ varsity teams, Copiague versus Amityville."

She added, "Business donated food, and the team baked bake goods to sell. Brittney’s T-shirts and bracelets were also sold."

All proceeds of the Memorial Game went to the Memorial Fund.

Looking Ahead
Looking ahead to this Saturday's Rock n Bowl Fundraiser, Tom Walsh indicated donations for the Chinese Auction have been steadily coming in for the upcoming, and

"If it continues with the donations for the Chinese Auction we might have a second bowling event in late February when all of Brittney's friends come home from college," he said.

In the meantime Brittney's family and friends will be there to support and honor her on Saturday night, and hope others will, too.

Read more:

•  
• Grasing Charged with Murder
• Memorial Fund Set up in Walsh's Honor
• Lindenhurst Teen Dies Suddenly in Car Crash
• Petition for New DWI Law Started in Victim's Honor
• Report: Vigil Held for Lindenhurst Teen Killed in Crash
• Copiague Schools Remember Brittney Walsh
• Police ID Victim in Sunday Night's Crash in Lindenhurst