MORGAN PARK — Bridget Anne Cullen, 17, of Morgan Park will be remembered at a benefit exactly three years after her sudden death on New Year's Day 2013.
The Bridget Anne Cullen Memorial Scholarship Benefit will be held from 3:30-7:30 p.m. on Jan. 1. at 115 Bourbon Street in suburban Merrionette Park. Tickets cost $40 at the door and $30 in advance.
Attendees that are 18 years old and younger can enter the benefit at 3359 W. 115th St. for $10, while children 6 and younger get in for free. There will be carnival games, a bounce house and other activities for kids.
Adults will enjoy an array of college football games as well as live music, including a performance by Marty Casey's band, the Lovehammers. Casey is a native of Chicago's south suburbs and gained national notoriety when he finished as runner-up on the first season of the reality show Rock Star: INXS.
The benefit will also include food, beer, wine, raffles and other live performances from the pipes and drums bands for both the Chicago Fire Department and the Chicago Police Department. Irish tenor Paddy Homan will also perform along with folk and country group Coyote Riot.
The benefit raises money for scholarships offered to young women from the Far Southwest Side who will attend Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School in Mount Greenwood. Cullen was a senior at the school when she died.
Her parents have chosen not to speak about the cause of their daughter's death ahead of the benefit. Rather, Anne Cullen, said the benefit aims to keep her daughter's memory alive. She said some 600 people are expected.
"People have asked us since she passed, 'What can we do? What can we do?' " said Cullen, who was initially reluctant to organize a benefit in her daughter's name.
Even without hosting such a fundraiser, the family has handed out eight, $1,000 scholarships to local girls headed to Mother McAuley. The initial funds were raised from the friends and family who chose to make a donation after Cullen's funeral.
It was Kaitlyn Cullen, 26, of River North who pushed to have a benefit for her late sister. She and her sister's friends will all be in town for the holidays and wanted to gather to remember Bridget Cullen.
The additional money raised at the benefit will be used to either offer more or larger scholarships, Anne Cullen said.
Bridget Cullen also attended St. Cajetan Elementary School, where she played softball and volleyball. She could pretty much beat every boy in a foot race. She transferred to Mother McAuley her junior year and changed her focus from athletics to animals, Cullen said.
She began working at Pawsitively Heaven Pet Resort in Chicago Ridge. She'd often work until 11 p.m. at the pet daycare and boarding service, caring for animals with long walks, handing out medication or even the grunt work of cleaning cages.
"She thought about a career in something like that or opening up a place that was similar," her mother said.
Cullen said the celebration of her daughter known for her "infectious laugh" could potentially become an annual event. The future will depend on the amount of support for the upcoming benefit as well as the enthusiasm for the celebration going forward.
"It is really gaining some steam," she said.
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