A little more than a year and a half after a young St. Augustine woman lost her life in a tragic automobile accident, her
memory lives on through the awarding of scholarships to music students in Northeast Florida.

The Ashley Foundation, founded in memory of Ashley Willwerth, who was 18 at the time of her death in October 2004, has awarded more than a dozen scholarships in the past year. These grants are for tuition to camps, conferences and private lessons for string music students.

The progress report was released earlier this month by her father, Charlie Willwerth, president of the Ashley Willwerth Memorial Scholarship Foundation Inc., a nonprofit, tax-deductible organization.

None of these grants would have been possible, Willwerth said, "without the enormous generosity of everyday people seeing the wonderful opportunities these grants provide."

The largest single donation was a corporate grant from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association Charitable Organization.

Doug Wiles of Herbie Wiles Insurance contributed twice, "making more dreams of scholarships come true," Willwerth said.

"The Ashley Foundation finds it impossible to put into words our gratitude for the wonderful gifts her foundation has received."

Ashley was a 2004 graduate of St. Augustine High School. She lost her life Oct. 8, 2004, while trying to cross U.S. 1 at Gun Club Road. At the time, she was on her way to classes at St. Johns River Community College.

The foundation was established to pay tribute to Ashley's dedication to the violin.

She played in the St. Augustine High School Orchestra, with the orchestra at the First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, St. Augustine Community Orchestra and Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra.

For further information about the foundation, go to www.ashleyfoundation.org . It provides information on how to donate and how to apply for scholarships.