Yorktown Heights, NY - The Justin Veatch Fund will award its fourth annual music scholarship to two graduating high school seniors Monday, June 11th at Yorktown High School’s Senior Awards Night.

The awards and the ongoing work of The Fund honors the late Justin Veatch, the Yorktown High School senior who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2008.

This year the Fund’s board of directors voted to increase the amount of its award by 50 percent to $1,500.  The award will be divided between a primary and secondary recipient in the amounts of $1,000 and $500. “We’re fortunate in a year of financial struggle for many to have grown through the programs we offer”, said Jeffrey Veatch, Justin’s father and The Fund’s president.  Last year’s award went to Melissa Frabotta who is now studying at Purchase College.  Previous recipients include Ohio Wesleyan’s Erika Nininger and Purchase College’s Stephen Graniero. A secondary award was also presented in 2010 to Beatrice Naumann, a student at Montclair State.

Justin Veatch was known for his exceptional musical gifts.  His music has drawn national attention on the CD “Permagrin:  The Music of Justin Veatch by The Ivoryton Piano Factory and Friends” distributed by Polyvinyl Records and also available through The Fund.  The Fund is a 501 (c) 3 corporation that co-sponsors the First Fridays open mic nights with the Yorktown Teen Center, a number of music education programs including a two-day summer music workshop being held this year August 13th and 14th in Pleasantville, and an annual concert that affords an opportunity for local talented youth to perform an opening program for a well-known headliner.

A new part of The Justin Veatch Fund’s outreach touches at the core of the Veatch Family’s tragedy.  Jeffrey Veatch, Justin’s father, delivers a 40-minute multi-media program titled “A Message from Justin” that discusses what happened to Justin and how young people can take better care of themselves and their friends. “In the first year of presenting the talk, I have directly reached more than 2,000 young people of middle and high school age,” says Veatch.  His outreach has included keynote appearances at Irvington High School, The Masters School and the county-wide SADD luncheon held at the Tarrytown Marriott.  Organizations interested in scheduling the talk should contact Gina Wolfman at The Teen Sage at (203) 270-1398.

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