PLATTSBURGH - As the second-annual Congopalooza fundraiser approaches, the group that organizes it has loftier goals.
Its members don't plan to simply support the Congelosi-Badr Memorial Scholarship, which honors the memory of Joe Congelosi and Huda Badr.
The Congelosi-Badr Memorial Fund's primary goal is to raise enough money to allow the scholarship to become endowed through SUNY Plattsburgh, a press release from that organization said.
And the group hopes to support other causes, too.
GONE TOO SOONCongelosi, 34, was killed in a tragic Margaret Street apartment house fire in 2016 after heroically saving his girlfriend from the blaze, which also took the life of school teacher Geoffrey Brenno.
Badr was a family friend and classmate of Congelosi's who died suddenly just a few weeks later.
Fellow Plattsburgh High School alumni from the class of 2001 joined together to create the Congelosi-Badr Memorial Scholarship in 2017 with the plan to award it annually at Plattsburgh High School's commencement ceremony.
Its intent is to support a post-graduation learning experience for PHS students who embody the characteristics that defined Congelosi and Badr, the release said.
Both world travelers, Joe and Huda often encouraged others to explore and experience the world around them.
The Congelosi-Badr Memorial Scholarship seeks to provide such an experience to students who would otherwise be unable to afford travel abroad.
MANY RAFFLE PRIZESIn aid of doing so, the second-annual Congopalooza will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, at Oval Craft Brewery in Plattsburgh.
A raffle at the event includes numerous prizes donated by local businesses and individuals, among them a full-size home game-room foosball table; gift baskets from High Peaks Dental, the Clinton County Historical Association and others; gift cards from Lake Champlain Ferries, Cumberland 12, Once Upon a Book and numerous eateries; and an unopened bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label that belonged to Congelosi himself.
Games and activities for kids and adults are slated for 5 to 7 p.m., with food provided by Squealz on Wheels and The Hotdog Man.
Live music will be provided by Nina's Brew, JR, and Jake and Dan.
"All of our (music) groups this year have at least one member that graduated from PHS around the same time frame as Joe and Huda, which everyone involved thought was great," organization President Colby Graves said in the release.
Life to Lense photography will be at the event taking candid and photo-booth photos of attendees that will later be available on an online gallery. Event T-shirts will also be available for $20 each.
Among the sponsors of this year's fundraiser are SeaComm Credit Union, UFirst Credit Union and Plattco.
Admission to the fundraiser is a suggested donation of $5.
ENDOWMENTLast year's fundraising efforts raised nearly $7,000, the release said, and the Congelosi-Badr Memorial Fund hopes to do the same again this year.
"We are very grateful to all those who have supported our cause so far," Graves said.
If endowed through SUNY Plattsburgh, the scholarship would help pay for study abroad expenses for graduating Plattsburgh High School students planning to attend the college.
To do so, the fund needs to raise $25,000 over the next five years.
"This would allow our scholarship to become self-sustaining and assure that Joe and Huda's legacies will live on," Graves said. "We think it is realistically possible for us to raise the money needed in the given time frame."
The group is now incorporated as a nonprofit in New York state.
"The next step is to get our 501c3 status," Graves said.
Along with the scholarship, the fund intends to support other causes that were important to both Congelosi and Badr.
"Joe was a proponent of historic preservation and served on the board of the Clinton County Historical Association, and Huda was an avid animal lover," the fund's president said.
"So those are some causes we would like to support in the future."
Anyone interested in making a donation/contribution is asked to contact the Congelosi-Badr Memorial Fund at congelosibadrmemorialfund@gmail.com.