At Epstein Becker Green, we continue to grieve the loss of Amanda Rose Laura, the daughter of our colleague Anthony Laura and his wife, Rosemary. Ms. Laura passed away on August 1, 2017, at the age of 25.
To honor Ms. Laura for many years to come and to assist in fulfilling her passion for helping others, the Laura family established The Amanda Rose Laura Foundation. This nonprofit corporation will provide financial assistance to children growing up in poverty so that they may have enriched educational experiences and opportunities. The firm has made a donation to the foundation in memory of Ms. Laura and in support of the Laura family.
Ms. Laura’s career, although tragically cut short, was incredibly impactful. From 2014 to 2016, as an educator for Teach for America, she taught at an underserved high school in Chicago. While at the school, she founded an SAT/ACT training program, tutored a senior who gave birth in April 2017 so that she could meet the requirements to graduate on time, and coached the girls’ soccer team without pay when the school could no longer afford its prior soccer coach. Ms. Laura was then awarded a Fulbright Grant to teach English to disadvantaged children in Madrid, Spain, where she lived in 2016-2017. Observing firsthand how hard it was for a teacher to fix, from the bottom up, what she perceived to be a broken inner-city educational system, Ms. Laura decided to pursue a law degree to try to make a change from the top down. She would have started her first year at the University of Chicago Law School in September 2017.
For those interested in making a personal donation to the foundation, you may either go to its Facebook page and use PayPal or send a check to The Amanda Rose Laura Foundation, 27 Baldwin Drive, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.