Justin Veatch Fund to Award Music Scholarships to Deserving Seniors

From The Justin Veatch Fund:

The Justin Veatch Fund will award its fifth annual music scholarships in June to graduating high school seniors planning to study music. This year there will be three $1,000 scholarships. Students outside of Yorktown were also eligible for the first time.  

The awards honor the late Justin Veatch, the Yorktown High School senior who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2008. This year one of the scholarships will be given in memory of the late Graham “Gray” Keenan III, a close friend of Justin’s who died last August at the age of 21 in a car accident.

“The Fund owes a debt of gratitude to the Keenan family,” said Jeffrey Veatch, Justin’s father, who spoke at Keenan’s funeral. “The Keenan family requested donations honoring Gray go to The Justin Veatch Fund because of their friendship and the work we do helping musically talented teens. Those donations amounted to a significant amount of money."

Those applying for this year’s Justin Veatch Fund scholarships included students from Yorktown, Hendrick Hudson, Fox Lane, Croton Harmon and Walter Panas High Schools. 

Last year’s scholarships went to Yorktown’s Kristina Koller who is studying at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. Spencer Cohen, also of Yorktown, who is studying at SUNY New Paltz, received a second place award of $500.  

This year at least one award will be presented at Yorktown High School’s Senior Awards Night on June 10. The Fund will also hold a special program for all recipients at The Hart Library in Shrub Oak  on June 19 at 6 p.m.  

At that event a special community service award will be presented to Helena Rodriguez, the current president and founder of the Yorktown Teen Center.

“Helena’s relationship with The Fund has been invaluable in helping us move our programs forward,” Veatch said. “She has contributed so much to our community we did not want to pass up this opportunity to give her special recognition.”