An Archmere student who died in a September car accident is being remembered by the Delaware Community Foundation.
Anthony J. Penna was known as a talented and passionate singer. The Archmere Academy junior sang bass in the elite Mastersingers Choir.
To honor and remember him, his family and friends teamed with the Delaware Community Foundation to create the Anthony J. Penna Fund.
DCF President and CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay says everyone wanted a hand in shaping Penna’s legacy.
"Fundamentally, this is a young man with lots of promise and had done lots of different activities, was involved and was full of life. What they focused on was his joy of music and arts,” said Comstock-Gay.
Comstock-Gay says Penna’s family wanted to allow other children to experience and appreciate those things.
The fund has exceeded expectations in just a couple of months with donations topping $75,000.
“[That's] absolutely a stunning amount. Often, these funds raise not a whole lot of money and that’s not to say that other children in other families aren’t valued. But, being able to gather this much money for a celebration of a young man’s life is a more unusual thing,” said Comstock-Gay.
Money from the fund was initially earmarked for music programs at Saint Edmond’s and Archmere, but the strong initial response has prompted the Pennas to expand its mission to support arts programs at schools throughout the Wilmington area.
Delaware Public Media' s arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from theDelaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
