By DON STINE
The memory of Sarah Stern, a 19-year-od Neptune City woman who went missing in late 2016, lives on through a special scholarship fund set up in her name. The Sarah Lee Stern Memorial Scholarship Foundation, begun in 2017, supports high school and college students to further their careers in the Arts and Media. Stern, a Neptune High School graduate, was an aspiring artist.
The Sarah Lee Stern Memorial Scholarship Foundation Fundraiser, with music by the Pat Roddy Band, will be held on Sun., Dec. 15. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at theheadliner.com. Money from the event will go into the scholarship fund set up in memory of Stern.
Donations can also be sent to www.gofundme.com/f/sarahleeste
The Pat Roddy Band manager Matt Stragazzi said that this is the first time the band is performing for the fund. He said the band is based out of Belmar “so everyone is aware of Sarah’s story.”
“We thought this is a good cause. Sarah was such a beautiful person and it is tragic. But this is a great way to keep her memory alive. Her story has touched so many people, not only in Monmouth County but around the world,” he said.
Stragazzi said that the benefit is also the launch for moving the fund from just a scholarship, but to a foundation status.
“This will kick start that. Plus, it will be a great holiday concert with special guests,” he said.
Stern was a 2015 graduate of Neptune High School and the 19-year-old was last seen alive on Dec. 2, 2016. In the early hours of the next day, her car was found abandoned on top of the Route 35 Bridge in Belmar that passes over the tidal channel between the Shark River and the Atlantic Ocean.
Two Neptune City men, who were friends with Stern, were eventually arrested after a two-month investigation, in connection with her murder. Her body has never been found dispite massive search efforts.
