GoFundMe Raises Over $5K For Scholarship In Late Teacher's Honor

LONG ISLAND, NY - In just a week, the local community came together to raise enough money for a scholarship in honor of a beloved Bay Shore teacher who died in a tragic house fire recently. In September, 61-year-old Laurie Addeo died after a fire broke out at her home on Washington Avenue in East Islip. She worked at the Mary G. Clarkson Elementary School as a second grade teacher.

Last week, to honor Addeo her son, Michael Addeo, started a GoFundMe to help raise money for a scholarship fund in her name.

"She was an amazing mother, wife, teacher and even in the short time she had with my daughter, an outstanding grandmother," Michael wrote on the page. "We miss her dearly and would like to honor her memory in a way that would make her proud and continue all the hard work she put in for her students at Bay Shore Schools."

The donations will go towards a scholarship fund set up by the local non-profit group Bay Shore Classroom Teachers Association. According to the page, the scholarship will be awarded to a former students of Addeo's to help pay for college. The goal of the page was set at $5,000. In one week the fundraiser exceed the goal raising a total of $5,615. Michael wrote on the page that the goal is to have enough to fund the scholarship for at least the next 10 years, with at least $1,000 awarded each year. Checks can also be sent to the union office.

To read more or to donate, visit the GoFundMe page here.