Scholarship in memory of woman killed in crash tops $25K with gift from colleagues
A scholarship started in memory of a Butler County Community College alumna killed by an automobile in March already has topped $25,000 due to a $5,300 contribution from the woman's former Amway colleagues who organized the first Sarah Kasunic Adventure 5K Run-Walk this past September at the college.
Kasunic, formerly of Jefferson Township, died March 23 as a result of a car accident in Knoxville, Tenn. The 2016 BC3 graduate was living and working there as a traveling nurse.
The Sept. 7 fundraiser drew 213 participants and 19 volunteers. Megan Jefferds and Kym Reck, Amway independent contractors and former business associates of Kasunic, organized the event and donated proceeds from the race to the BC3 Education Foundation.
Kasunic, 23, and Ashley Moore, 38, of Goodlettsville, Tenn., were killed by a passing vehicle on Interstate 40 near Knoxville after Kasunic crashed her vehicle and Moore stopped to help, according to Knoxville police.
Ruth Purcell, executive director of the BC3 Education Foundation, said Jefferds and Reck are among 96 individuals or businesses that contributed to the Sarah Kasunic Scholarship. She added that the scholarship will be awarded for the first time next fall.
“It is the largest number of contributors and the largest total amount of money for a memorial scholarship ever,” Purcell said, adding the response has been “overwhelming and extraordinary.”
Other Amway representatives have donated directly to the scholarship fund, Jefferds said, adding that some have contributed up to $1,000.
The scholarship will continue Kasunic's legacy. She served as president of BC3's Rho Phi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an international academic honor society. The Knoch High
School graduate attended BC3 on a President's Scholarship.“That's the significance of Sarah's scholarship,” Neupauer said. “Certainly all of our scholarships are important in their own unique way. This is one in which future students will be able to benefit from that incredible spirit, drive and passion that Sarah brought to BC3, her family, friends and certainly her nursing profession.”Jefferds said the Adventure 5K Run-Walk honoring her friend was inspired by Kasunic's travel to Africa, Asia and to Europe, and her talking about a goal for 2019 to “get really healthy.”Jefferds said Kasunic joined a gym for the first time in the hope of training for her first 5K.“Sarah definitely touched a lot of lives, a lot more than her mother and I ever realized,” Tom Kasunic said of the outpouring of support for the 5K in memory of his daughter.Less than a month before her death, Kasunic contributed funds to the BC3 Education Foundation to help members of Rho Phi attend a national conference in April in Orlando.“It is rare to get gifts from people who are that young,” Purcell said. “It is rare not only at BC3, but at any institution, to have a young student give back like that.”Candidates for the Sarah Kasunic Scholarship must be enrolled full time in BC3's nursing program and have a minimum grade-point average of 3.0.“It's fantastic to know a benefit can come from that,” said Margaret Kasunic, whose family also created the Kasunic Family Phi Theta Kappa Travel Award, which will benefit Rho Phi members attending the society's national conference.The second Sarah Kasunic Adventure 5K Run-Walk is in the works for Sept. 5, 2020, on BC3's main campus.William V. Foley is the coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.
