Miles Reme loved sports — so much so that his parents have been actively fundraising for a scholarship to give to student athletes at his high school in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Reme died at the age of 20 last summer from injuries sustained in a car accident.

Debbie Reme, his mother, said she and Reme’s friends have been fundraising mostly by selling raffle tickets at a cost of $5. But the establishment of a GoFundMe page earlier this month added approximately $1,500 to what they have been collecting in about two months, bringing their total to between $8,500–9,000, Debbie Reme said.

Since Reme’s death, his mother said she and her husband have also been fundraising to purchase a memoriam to place in front of the school so people will remember Reme.

“We wanted to keep Miles’ memory alive as best as we can. He was pretty well known,” Reme said. “We want to keep him going — and in helping someone else by doing this, we’re honoring his memory and helping out two student athletes a year.”

It was Brooke Kunikoff, a high school friend of Miles Reme, who thought of the idea to start a GoFundMe page online to spread the word about his parents’ efforts.

Kunikoff, a sophomore studying public relations at Pennsylvania State University, said she had gotten the idea from a family friend of hers who was in a coma and was doing the same thing through the website.

“We sent the page out to friends and family, and they did to other friends and family and colleagues,” Kunikoff said. “And you know, it’s important not even as just a scholarship fund, but to have his name live on is something that I think is very important to his family (and) to his friends.”

Alex Gentry, a junior industrial and interaction design major at SU, met Reme when they were 13 years old. Gentry, who is from Connecticut, said he visited Reme’s town in New Jersey often and would spend a lot of time with him.

Whether it was food or fashion, Gentry said he and Reme always had very similar interests. Gentry added that he knew the two of them would be roommates the moment he found out they were both headed to SU.

“Obviously he passed at such a young age, and it was untimely. He had so much potential to be an amazing athlete himself,” Gentry said. “But Miles loved sports and he wanted to be a sports agent, and so I think he would really appreciate his parents getting money together to give to kids who can do their own thing and who want to go and play sports.”

Alex Hodgkinson, a junior classical civilization major, met Reme during their freshman year and would spend a lot of time with him. Hodgkinson, who is a kicker on the Syracuse football team, found out about the GoFundMe page through social media and decided to donate since the two were friends at SU.

“I think it’s something that’s very good for his name. The more that everyone talks about it, the more that they can remember him and raise more money,” Hodgkinson said. “It’s about keeping his name alive.”

Hodgkinson, who met Debbie Reme when he attended Reme’s funeral last year, said it was hard for him to lose a friend in Reme, since they were so close.

Debbie Reme said through the entire effort, the people who cared about Miles the most are the ones who work the hardest to raise the money.

“I don’t want anyone to ever forget him. He was a real special person, not only to me, but to everyone,” Debbie Reme said. “He’s not someone that I would want to just fall through the cracks.”

Published on January 27, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Clare: clramire@syr.edu