Andrew Parker Memorial 5K in Miami raises $20,000 for UF Scholarship

Alpha Epsilon Phi

We are countlessly reminded to protect ourselves. Buckle up. Don’t drink and drive. Be safe. But it is the unforeseen and unfortunate events that occur in which those simple sentences are engrained in our minds forever.

On October 16, Andrew Parker, a freshman at Santa Fe Community College, was that one event.

He passed away in a car accident outside of Campus Lodge with friends lapped up and piled high in the backseat and passenger seat of the vehicle.

In his honor, friends and family gathered together in his hometown of Miami, Florida for the first annual Andrew Parker Memorial 5K Run/Walk. The event took place at a local park and approximately 500 people attended.

“We had a great grassroots effort to collect and come together in the community,” David Parker, Andrew’s father said. “Plus, Andrew was a pretty popular guy.”

And that he was. As an Honors student at his high school, a starting football player on the team, a short-term pledge of Sigma Phi Epsilon and a student accepted in UF’s Spring 2011 semester he was more than just popular.

The money from the 5K was donated to the Andrew Parker Memorial Scholarship created to send one student from Miami Palmetto Senior High to the University of Florida.

“Right after he passed away we wanted to have something good and lasting in his name,” David said. “It was about bringing people together.”

At the event, t-shirts, key chains and bracelets were sold with all of the money going directly towards the scholarship fund. Silent auction items and donations from the community were also pooled together.

About $20,000 was raised from the 5K.

“It was such a positive event,” David said. “The community definitely came together and sometimes you have to have a tragedy for the support to come.”

David offered these words of advice:

“My one mantra is to buckle up. If [Andrew] did, we may not have had this event. The easy decisions you make in life could have a huge impact on the future.”

As a friend to Andrew, a member of the Greek community and just another college kid, I ask that all of you reading this to be more than safe. Protect yourselves and your friends from anything that could force you to miss them forever.

Jessica is a sophomore studying journalism and psychology.  You may contact her at jkramer624@ufl.edu.