By:Hector Flores
Tom McKeon, the event organizer and a member of the Bellmore Fire Department, said Prior and Rand were members of the Bellmore and New York City fire departments. Prior was stationed in Brooklyn and Rand in Queens.
"When these two fellow firefighters were lost, we had a memorial in front of our firehouse," McKeon said. "After a while, we started receiving donations in their names. At first, we didn't know what to do with the money, but after consulting with their families, we decided to start a scholarship."
The Prior and Rand Scholarship makes $1,000 awards to members of the Bellmore department's junior squad. To qualify for an award, an honoree must enroll in college and aspire toward a career in medicine or firefighting.
The first awards were handed out in 2003. The recipients were Jackie Cotter, a Mepham graduate and a Nassau Community College student who is studying nursing, and Mike Miller, a Kennedy graduate now attends SUNY Cortland. Both are now members of the Bellmore Fire Department.
The 2004 recipients were Joe O'Brien, a Mepham graduate enrolled in Nassau Community College, and David Zuckenberg, a Kennedy graduate who now attends Hofstra.
McKeon expects that in 2005, there will be at least four more recipients.
