Gabby Petito Foundation Plans Scholarships On Long Island

BLUE POINT, NY — The Gabby Petito Foundation plans scholarships for students graduating from two of her hometown high schools on Long Island.

As part of the Gabby Petito Scholarship Fund program, two graduating senior artists pursuing a future in the visual arts who are from Bayport-Blue Point and Newfield high schools will receive $1,000, according to the foundation's website. The artists will be chosen by their peers in the art program for personifying “Gabby's youthful and free-spirited likeness,” the statement read.

The fund was established to honor the 22-year-old Petito, who had attended Newfield High School and later graduated from Bayport-Blue Point in 2017.

"Gabby's family conceived the award as a way of keeping her memory alive in the hearts and minds of all who knew and loved her during her life and those that grew to love her posthumously," the statement read.

"All through her life, Gabby always had a passion for art of all kinds, as an avid drawer and photographer herself," the statement continued. "After graduating from Bayport-Blue Point High School, Gabby followed her heart and free spirit by taking to the road and traveling widely across the country until her untimely passing in the summer of 2021."

Petito set out on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in July, but he returned without her in September. She was found strangled on Sept. 19 near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The remains of Laundrie, the sole person of interest in her death, were found in a Florida preserve last week.

The frantic search for Petito when she was reported missing by her family quickly became a story that captured attention around the world. In October, her family announced the start of a foundation in her honor to help other families who are trying to find their missing loved ones. Nearly $10,000 was reportedly raised at a recent fundraiser at 89 North in Patchogue.

The foundation is run by Petito's father, Joseph Petito, her stepmother, Tara, stepfather, James Schmidt, and mother, Nichole, and the family's attorney, Richard Stafford.

At a news conference announcing the foundation, James Schmidt told reporters that the family hopes that through its "tragedy with losing Gabby, that in the future, some good can come out of it."

The family hopes they can help other people who may be in a similar situation, Schmidt said, adding, that the foundation can "reach out to other organizations that do similar things and find out what's missing," to see how the "void" can be filled.

He questioned what the foundation can do to help people from The AWARE Foundation, Inc., which sent out an action alert, sharing Petito’s information and it reached two million people in 48 hours. Because of Petito's case, law enforcement agencies are now starting to look back at other missing person cases, and they are starting to re-investigate them, he said.

"We're just hopeful that we're able to help people in the future," he added.

In addition to raising funds, the foundation has set up social media pages, including a Pinterest account that posts inspirational messages.

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