Kaitlyn Bartlow, pictured, was the recipient of this year’s Viviana Pena Scholarship award in the amount of $1,000. (Yearbook Photo)
This year’s Owego Free Academy graduate, Kaitlyn Bartlow, was the recipient of the Viviana Pena Scholarship award in the amount of $1,000.
Established in loving memory of Viviana Peña, this scholarship supports an Owego Free Academy (OFA) graduating senior who has contributed to their school and community by promoting a healthy, drug-free lifestyle in children and youth.
Viviana Pena tragically lost her life on Aug. 10, 2010 as the result of an accident caused by a drunk driver. She was a June 2010 graduate of OFA and loved poetry, tennis, ceramics and animals, to include her dog Daisy, and volunteered much of her time at Stray Haven in Waverly, N.Y.
Her family, friends, and community members to honor her memory established the Viviana Peña Scholarship Fund in 2011. This award is given yearly to a graduating senior from OFA intending to continue their education, who has served as a positive role model for good decision-making and who has actively encouraged other students to do the same.
In this year’s OFA yearbook, Bartlow’s senior quote was as follows: “There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow. Today is the right day to love, believe, do, and mostly live.” –Dalai Lama
Bartlow participated in tennis, Interact, Yes! Leads, the National Honor Society, and much more. Bartlow has plans to attend college and has hopes for a successful career!
To make a donation to the Viviana Pena Scholarship Fund, send your tax-deductible donation to the Community Foundation for South Central New York, 520 Columbia Dr., Suite 100, Johnson City, N.Y. 13790. Note Peña Fund in the memo.
You can also contact the foundation by calling (607) 772-6773.
