MOTT HAVEN HERALD

The legacy of Brandon Hendricks lives on.

The Bronx Rising Initiative organization is now accepting applications for the Brandon Hendricks scholarship, https://www.bronxrisinginitiative.com/bhscholarship. The scholarship, which will be awarded to multiple applicants, is worth $5,000 and high school seniors from the Bronx who have been accepted to college are eligible to apply.

“I hope that the opportunity will excite more youth to be motivated to complete high school and, of course, enter college,” said Tanya Downer, Hendricks’s oldest sibling.

Hendricks was born in the Bronxville section of Westchester County. He was a success story in his South Bronx neighborhood, triumphing over the pitfalls that many adolescents fall prey to. The highly decorated student and athlete had graduated from James Monroe High School only days before his untimely death. Hendricks was the point guard and captain of the James Monroe Eagles basketball team and had been accepted to attend St. John’s University.

Hendricks lost his life on June 28, 2020, a week before his 18th birthday while attending a friend’s birthday cookout on Davidson Avenue in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx.

Hendricks was hit in the neck by a bullet that law enforcement officials were almost certain was meant for someone else. Hendricks died in the early hours of June 29.

Bronx Rising said in a release that the scholarship program was launched last year in honor of Hendricks. Applications are scheduled to close on May 31 and winners are expected to be announced on July 7.

“Brandon was a consistent source of hope and inspiration for everyone that knew him and had recently been accepted to college with a full scholarship – the scholarship exists to honor his memory and uplift his peers,” the announcement said.

By Jason Gonzalez

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