Appreciating a short life lived well

To honor the memory of his older brother, Daniel, who died in a Pennsylvania car accident in 2008, Lawrence High School junior Deion Wright established the DJ Wright Scholarship Fund nearly two years ago.

Wright, 16, a Lawrence resident, is looking to raise more than the $200 that was last year’s scholarship, which is awarded to a student that will be attending college and has financial needs.

The concert to raise those funds will be held at the Grace Tabernacle Christian Center Church of God in Crown Heights, Brooklyn this Saturday beginning at 7:30 p.m. The musical program will feature gospel music.

Wright’s grandfather was the Grammy Award-winning gospel legend Rev. Timothy Wright, who was based out of the Brooklyn church. Rev. Wright was critically injured in a two-car crash on July 4, 2008 that killed, his wife, Betty G. Wright, and Daniel, along with the driver of the oncoming car. Rev. Wright died of his injuries on April, 24, 2009.

Anger fueled Wright’s charitable passion as he didn’t want his brother to be forgotten. “Where my grandparents went to church it was bothering me that the people at the church talked about them and forgot about the third person in the car and how that experience could affect someone’s life,” he said.

Daniel, two years older than Wright, was 14 when he died. The brothers, who lived in Roosevelt at that time, were close as they played video games and basketball together as well as enjoyed their music. “If you saw him, you saw me,” Wright said.

Despite his youth, Daniel was always helping people, especially his grandmother. “He was a prime example of what a man should be,” his brother said.

That one of her sons stepped up to do something is not a surprise to Lori Wright. “I thought it was a very courageous, very honorable of him, to think about his brother, his legacy,” she said. “I’m proud of him. I hope he stays focused and continues on the right road, and great things come out of it, and someone is helped by it.”

Wright and his family met Lawrence Schools Superintendent Gary Schall last year during Wright’s transition into the district and spoke with him about the loss of his brother. “I believe that as he learns how to deal with his horrible loss and he calls upon his inner fortitude and the innate gifts he possesses, he will be able to give comfort to others who are facing challenges in their life,” Schall said.

Lawrence High School’s music department and the school’s SHARP program that Wright is a part of is helping him to put together the musical program, said Schall, who added that this is a school community that celebrates its diversity and schools should help students with ways they can contribute through their backgrounds.

Wright’s loss of his brother is one of those tragedies that should help others realize the value of life. “Whether old or young, we constantly lose sight of this gift and take each other for granted,” Schall said. “We become too busy with our day to day lives to stop and appreciate the interactions we have with each other.”

More than four years later, Wright still remembers that last phone conversation he had with his brother. “He called me when I was home and said you have to be the man of house, I didn’t understand,” Wright said. “I was in shock when he died, I had to step up.”