Hundreds gather in U.D. to honor legacy of Nicole Gallo

Annual walk honors Prendergast alum killed outside DCMH

UPPER DARBY » An overcast morning switched to a sunnier spring afternoon just in time for a traditional 5K run’s namesake.

The 5th Annual Nicole Gallo Sunshine and Bubbles 5K went off without a hitch Sunday on the campus of Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School, the yearly event that raises scholarship money in honor of Nicole Gallo, a 2008 Prendie alumnus who died tragically in 2009.

Friends, family, Bonner and Prendie students, community members and hundreds others gathered at Gallo’s alma mater to celebrate the life of a girl her mother, Donna Gallo, said was her “sweet sunshine” who loved bubbles. The event, and the scholarship fund that preceded it, received its namesake from Nicole telling people to envision a bubble, put your negative thoughts in it, and blow it away.

Gallo was killed in August 2009 when a car driven by a woman who was under the influence of drugs careened up onto the sidewalk outside Delaware County Memorial Hospital, killing her and seriously injuring her friend.

“(The event is to) cherish her and her memory at Prendie,” said Gallo. “It helps us to have something positive to do because you miss her terribly. She had such a positive outlook on life, she was wise beyond her years. She was always about brining joy to people and it helps us to take negative energy and feeling sorry for yourself and to do something positive.”

Gallo started the Nicole Gallo Sunshine and Bubbles scholarship fund shortly after her daughter’s death. The event has raised more than $100,000 before Sunday’s run to help young women in the area retain their placement at Bonner and Prendie after their freshmen year. The funds are also used in emergency situations to help students who may have fallen on hard times to pay their tuition.

Since 2014, when the 5K event started as an annual fundraiser for the fund, more than $85,000 has been raised for the scholarship alone, helping 30 girls attend Bonner and Prendie. Gallo

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KEVIN TUSTIN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Nicole Gallo’s parents, Donna and Stephen, speak with runners and other community members before the start of the race. Donna and Stephen presented a check to Bonner and Prendie for $22,000 for the school’s Nicole Gallo Sunshine and Bubbles scholarship fund.

KEVIN TUSTIN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA This sign at the entrance to the Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School campus welcomes runners Sunday afternoon. In the background is Nicole Gallo’s alma mater, Prendergarst, where she graduated in 2008. A scholarship was established in her name to help young women who want to attend Prendergast.

KEVIN TUSTIN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA One of a number of memorials for Nicole Gallo at the run. Gallo ran track at Lebanon Valley College before her passing in 2009 at the age of 19.

KEVIN TUSTIN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Drexel Hill’s Armani Moyer, 12, wins the kids run before going on to the 5K.