Family, friends say scholarship would honor Meg Herndon

The family of the late Southeast Missouri State University student Meg Herndon, who tragically lost her life in a scooter accident in September, hopes to raise $10,000 for an endowed scholarship at Southeast that has been established in Herndon's name.

Cindi Silvey, Meg's mother, along with her father Ian Herndon and other family members, hope to tap into the area's loyal St. Louis Cardinal fan base to generate funding for the Meg Herndon Scholarship.

"The goal is $10,000, and I'm confident we can exceed that," Silvey said. "To help us reach the mark, I got a deal on 500 Cardinals tickets for their July 23 game against the Phillies. We're selling them for $20 per person, and if we sell all of them Meg will be honored on the field before the game with the first pitch thrown by someone we choose."

Silvey said all proceeds from the ticket sales will go toward funding the scholarship.

"The Cardinals were big with Meg," Silvey said. "When she would come home from school she would always go to some of their games."

Herndon, 21, was a senior nursing student from Fenton, Mo., and a member of Southeast's women's soccer team.

On Sept. 9, she was driving her scooter southbound through the intersection of Sprigg Street and Normal Avenue. She was struck by a Ford F-250 pickup truck driven by Steven A. Minner of Morley, Mo., who did not yield when he made a left turn onto Normal Avenue. Herndon was transported to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., where she died Sept. 20 from her injuries.

Silvey and Ian Herndon were approached about creating a scholarship by Heather Nelson, Meg's soccer coach.

"On behalf of myself as coach and on behalf of the entire soccer team, our priority was to keep Meg's memory alive," Nelson said. "She epitomized everything you'd want in a Southeast student-athlete."

Nelson helped Silvey and Ian Herndon establish the scholarship through the Southeast Missouri University Foundation. Once endowed, it will be granted to a female soccer player, someone Nelson said who will be the right kind of scholar-athlete.

"We'll be looking for people who had the same vision as Meg," she said. "She was a soccer player and planned a future as a health professional. We'll look for players with similar plans, and character will count, too."

Nelson said the Southeast women's soccer team has been involved in raising money for the scholarship by sending fundraising letters to former players and to people connected to the athletic department.

"We feel we won't have honored Meg until we get the scholarship endowed," Nelson said. "It's our turn to make her proud of us."

About $2,000 has been raised toward the scholarship, Silvey said.

"We've received that through spontaneous donations and other efforts at Southeast," she said. "The soccer team is doing so much for us. There were sororities that held spaghetti-dinner fundraisers. The Student Nurses Association has donated money. The help we're getting is amazing, and it's all about keeping Meg's memory alive."

Tickets for the July 23 Cardinals game may be purchased at pray4meg@gmail.com. Regular donations to the scholarship may be made at the website or by visiting the Southeast Missouri Foundation at semo.edu/foundation or calling 651-2332.

Herndon's death spurred a November ordinance that requires each operator of a scooter within the city limits -- along with mo-peds and motorized bicycles with engines of 50cc and below -- to have a valid driver's license, to wear an approved helmet, ride with no passengers and possess proof of insurance.

Sgt. Kevin Orr of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said since the ordinance went into effect there have been five citations issued by police for failure to wear an approved helmet and one for not having a valid driver's license.

klewis@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address: 1 University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, Mo.