WESTFIELD – The Kareta family of Westfield will hold a memorial scholarship benefit to honor the memory of Joe Kareta on Sunday, September 13 from 2-7 p.m. at the Summit View in Holyoke.
There will be a buffet dinner, cash bar, and live music by the Union Jack British Invasion Band. Your $20 benefit ticket automatically enters you into a raffle for 300 lottery tickets and additional raffle tickets are available for purchase with prizes including a lobster cruise down Cape Cod, Patriots, and Red Sox game tickets.
Joe Kareta earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Westfield State in 2010 and passed the State Police Exam shortly after graduation. Just three months later, he was struck by a drunk driver while walking to the mailbox at his aunt’s house in South Hadley, and died from his injuries.
To honor Joe, parents Fred and Kathy Kareta, sister Kerry Kareta, and cousin Marilyn Sicotte established the Joe Kareta Scholarship. Two separate scholarships are awarded by the Citizen’s Scholarship Fund and the Westfield State University Foundation. The scholarship is awarded annually to multiple recipients. Any high school senior or present Westfield State student from Hampden or Hampshire County who is studying criminal justice or a related field and demonstrates a financial need, a track record of volunteerism in their community, and has a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, is eligible to apply for the funds.
The scholarship is designed to be awarded to students who possess the qualities that Joe Kareta had, including a strong work ethic.
“He was definitely a go-getter,” Fred Kareta said. “He was aggressive when it came to pursuing his dreams.”
During Joe’s senior year, he balanced working part-time, going to school at Westfield State full-time, and night classes at Springfield Technical Community College to earn his EMT certification.
Westfield State student Jennifer Mitchell ’16 of South Hadley is a four-time recipient of the Joe Kareta Scholarship.
“I greatly appreciate receiving this scholarship because it means that the committee and Kareta family believe I reflect the goals and values of who Joe Kareta was and wanted to become,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the scholarship has had a significant impact on her education.
“It has provided me with financial assistance that allows me not to have to work full-time to pay for school and the financial ability to take summer classes to complete my education goals and still graduate on time,” Mitchell said. “Lastly, receiving this scholarship helped me decide to combine social work and criminal justice in hopes to make a significant change in the criminal justice system.”
At present, the Kareta family has raised nearly $150,000 for the scholarship fund. To date, 26 scholarships have been awarded (15 through the Westfield State Foundation and nine through the Citizen’s Scholarship Fund). Last year, the family surpassed their initial fundraising goal of $100,000, most of which, according to Kathy Kareta, are from individual donors, particularly residents from the cities of Westfield, Holyoke, and South Hadley.
“It’s unbelievable the amount of the support that we’ve gotten and it’s continuous every year,” Kathy Kareta said.
Tickets for the benefit can be purchased from the following people: Barry and Janet Stowe (413) 642-3930, the Kareta family (413) 533-9725, Marilyn Sicotte (508) 867-6875, and Pat Paul (413) 427-3006.
