2008 Woodie Awards
DeCubellis Foundation pledges $100,000 for student-athlete development center
Bridgette Blight
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: News
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![John DeCubellis [at lectern] presents the URI Athletic Department with a $100,000 check to help fund the construction of a student-athlete development center. Receiving the check are Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn and URI student Ryan McCarthy.](http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper366/stills/up1796l4.jpg)
John and Meg DeCubellis lost their daughter Katie and her best friend's mother, Marsha Bowman, after a drunken driver plowed into their car on Oct. 29, 1999. The DeCubellises started the KDMF to raise awareness about the consequences of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
On Monday night, they spoke to an audience at Keaney Gymnasium composed mostly of student athletes. Their presentation started before any words were spoken to the audience. Easels with pictures of Katie were on display. As the DeCubellises spoke, they revealed a photo of Katie DeCubellis's coffin at her funeral, as well as the wreckage of the Honda Civic she was riding in the night she was killed.
"We want to show the daily pain and anguish that Meg and I experience," John DeCubellis said. "We hope it might help you make good decisions."
The couple discussed the details of the crash that killed their daughter, as well as the impact it had on their lives. They left her room exactly as she left it the day that she died for six years until their youngest child Eliza, who was four when Katie died, moved into it.
They spoke of the pain that they felt every day, but also of the way that they decided to push for a greater awareness of the effects of drunken driving. The DeCubellises speak across the country, and KDMF offers scholarships to Rhode Island students in Katie DeCubellis's memory. On Monday night, they encouraged URI student-athletes to set a good example for their fellow students.
"Whether you like it or not … you're role models to a lot of people," John DeCubellis said. "You have to be extra careful and extra aware because you're representing our community."