With March Madness engulfing the country this week, the Jessica Rekos Memorial Fund has come up with an ingenious and endearing way to raise money in memory of the 6-year old victim at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
In lieu of a raffle and in remembrance of Jessica’s knack for organizing projects, the charity is organizing a NCAA bracket pool to raise money for whale education and conservation, according to a post on ESPN.com
The contest costs $10 to buy in, or $25 for three. The winner will ge an all-expenses paid trip to see North Carolina play Duke at Cameron Indoor during the weekend of March 7-9, 2014. And, according to the ESPN post, “the knowledge that they contributed to the memory of a smiling child who loved to set the table, choose the Friday night movie and read about orcas, which she became fascinated with after watching “Free Willy” and observing whales at Cape Cod.”
Click here for instructions on how to enter and play. Brackets must be in by Thursday before the games begin. You may enter as many as you like.
The pool was organized by Jason McCallum, a Newtown native who works at ESPN. “We just want to raise as much money as we possibly can,’’ he said in the ESPN post. “We want Jessica and the things she loved to never be forgotten.”