The Award

The Fund exists to encourage female high school athletes to participate in the work of their communities. Recognizing that students must choose between working for pay and an enriching volunteer experience, the Fund offers two awards of $2,500 each to allow motivated, service-oriented young people paid work experiences at nonprofits.

Criteria

To be eligible for this award, students must meet all of the following:

• Female student
• GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Soccer player
• Burlington, Mercer County or Middlesex County resident
• Volunteer work/community service experience

To Apply

Please submit:

• Resume or overview of your activities/volunteer commitments and soccer team experience;
• High school transcript;
• One-page essay: What is a global cause you feel strongly about, and if you had the means and time how would you contribute to it?
• a letter of recommendation from a person familiar with your prior volunteer work.

Materials should be sent to the Diana Rochford Memorial Fund Award at the Community Foundation.

About Diana

Diana Rochford was one of those people that everyone admired. Her beautiful smile lit up the room and she was a devoted friend who always championed the underdog. She consistently gave 110 percent to everything she did, whether it was her education, soccer, school musicals, or church choir. She especially loved helping those in need, which led her to participate in mission trips with her church. She lived by the motto “Small things done with great love can change the world.”

Diana also loved being on the soccer field. When she tore her ACL in her freshman year, she was determined not to let that stop her. She worked her way back into the starting lineup as a sweeper, her favorite position, and into a leadership role as captain of the team when she was a sophomore. For Diana, being a leader went beyond the soccer field, and she found herself helping her teammates with personal problems as well. They always felt safe coming to her for help, knowing she was a good listener, truly cared about each one of them, and would never betray their trust. She also dedicated time to her travel team, where she played sweeper and outside midfielder.

Diana’s other love was singing. She participated in school musicals, the school choir and a select acapella group. These friends were totally devoted to each other and she adored being with them. Diana also sang with the celebration choir at her church, which is where she was on the evening of Aug. 24, 2002, just before the beginning of her senior year. After Diana left church, she spent some time at a friend’s house.  It was on her drive home that Diana had a tragic accident.  She was 17-years-old.