Braintree Runs For Laurie Melchionda During 2nd Annual Memorial 5K

BRAINTREE, MA — Braintree residents gathered on Saturday for the second year in a row to remember a local nurse and community fixture.

The second annual "5K for Laurie's Love of Life" run was held in Braintree on Saturday, organized by the Laurie Melchionda Foundation. According to CBS Boston, hundreds of runners took to the streets during the run.

The run is in memory of Melchionda, who was murdered in 2020 outside her Braintree home. Robert Bonang, 61, is charged with the murder after prosecutors said he impersonated a UPS driver before shooting Melchionda.

Melchionda was a member of the Braintree Board of Health and former school nurse in town. She also was the director of health services for Weston Public Schools.

Prosecutors said Bonang was Melchionda's former neighbor.

Read more: Man Indicted In Killing Of Braintree School Nurse

Saturday's race is both a way to remember Melchionda and a way to fundraise for the scholarship awarded through her memorial foundation.

The foundation awards at least one scholarship to an undergraduate student enrolled in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at UMass Boston who have unmet financial needs.

"The scholarship will be a perpetual tribute to Laurie’s devotion to her community and the children for whom she cared at Boston Children’s Hospital, in the Braintree and Weston Public school systems, and as a member of the Braintree and Weston Board of Health. It is a testament to a working mom and the values she instilled in pursuing higher education," the foundation said.