This article was published in the October magazine of The Fort Thomas Living
The Jennifer Harber Memorial Scholarship is
one of 12 Northern Kentucky non-profits participating in an upcoming
fundraising event.
The Band of Helping Hands will perform live at The Newport Syndicate on November 1, 2013. The show begins at 7:30 pm, and
tickets cost $25 each.
The event will feature G.Miles and the
Hitmen, Jamison Road, 3
Sheets, Southern Highway,
and Brad Hatfield Band.
To donate, you must visit http://bandofhelpinghands.org/?cat=4
and (important) select “The Jennifer Harber Memorial Scholarship” from the drop-down menu
to ensure the money gets directed to the scholarship.
Jennifer Harber was born May
4, 1981, the second child Ed and Beverly Harber. She was the younger sister to
Emily Harber Rucker. At the time of her passing, she was a student at Highlands
High School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.
Jen was carefree from the moment she could walk.
One favorite memory is the time she and her family went camping in Brookville
with a church group. According to Emily, the girls were being changed out of
their wet bathing suits in a tent by their mother. Once Bev turned her back,
Jen (then age four), took off out of the tent, streaking around the campground
as naked as the day she was born … and loving it.
Not surprisingly, her favorite dish as a kid was
naked spaghetti – plain noodles in a bowl.
Jen grew up to be a spunky, energetic teenager
who loved music, soccer and reading. She also adored anything with a rubber
duck on it. Fiercely loyal and loving to her family, she was also a true friend
to those around her, never judging others by their “cover” and always
willing to stop everything and help someone in need. That compassion inspired
her dream to one day become an emergency medical technician, following the footsteps
of her father and sister.
Unfortunately, Jen’s life
ended all too soon in October 1998. Despite their grief, the Harbers wanted to
continue Jennifer’s legacy by offering a scholarship to Highlands High School
alumni. As Emily says, it gives Bev and Ed a chance to do for others what they
didn’t get to do for Jennifer.
Here is the Enquirer article from 1998 that details the day that ended Jennifer’s life all too abruptly.
