Memorial scholarship set up for train accident victim
Fund set up by family intended to reward kindness, independence
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer

Ashlyn Marie Ferriero

WOODBRIDGE - Eleven-year-old Carland Hunnaman remembers the fun times he had with his older sister, Ashlyn Marie Ferriero, who died in a tragic train accident in June.

"She was always fun to be around," Hunnaman said with a big smile as he reminisced about his sister. "We did a lot of things together on the trampoline. Things are not going to be the same without her."

Ashlyn, 12, who was a seventh-grader at Avenel Middle School at the time, was with four of her friends when she was struck and killed by a North Jersey Coast Line NJ Transit train at 2:56 p.m. June 19 as it passed through Avenel.

In the night and days following the accident, family and friends displayed photographs on the concrete wall of the train station, showing a smiling Ashlyn with her friends. Numerous messages were left on the wall and nearby, with messages such as "We love you and miss you" and "We will never forget."

A makeshift memorial of candles, flowers, stuffed animals, and balloons surrounded the entrance of the stairwell to the platform of the train station.

To celebrate her life, Ashlyn's family and friends developed a scholarship program in her name, called The Fashion Love Ashlyn Educational Fund, a few weeks after her passing.

The criterion of the scholarship is "kindness toward others."

"She was known for her kindness and generosity toward others, so we decided to have the program based upon 'the kindness toward others,' " said her father, Joseph Ferriero. "Laura [Ashlyn's mother] came up with the name. She loved clothes. She always had to have the fancy pants and sneakers."

The scholarship program invites eighth-grade students at Avenel Middle School to write an essay nominating a peer and describing the role this nominee played in their life.

The scholarship winner will be selected based on votes and the content of the letters.

In 2009, the scholarship will also be available for a senior at Colonia High School, which Ashlyn would have attended.

"This year, before the school year, we have already provided four students and their families with the scholarship," said Ferriero. "The scholarship provides gift cards to a store for the students to purchase clothing and educational supplies."

Ferriero added that they hope the scholarship will be a reminder for kids to stay away from the train tracks and not give in to peer pressure.

"We hope also to receive enough funds so we can extend the scholarship to all three high schools [John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in Iselin and Woodbridge High School]," said Ferriero.

Ashlyn's family and friends are hosting The Fashion Love Ashlyn Educational Fund Benefit Dinner 6:30-10:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Royal Albert's Palace, 1050 King George Road, Fords. The dinner will be an Italian buffet.

"We want to thank Albert Jasani

owner of Royal Albert's Palace] for donating his place and all the food for the event," said Ferriero.

Ashlyn's close-knit family of her father and his wife, Tammy, of Colonia; her mother and stepfather, Laura and David Seiden of Avenel; her brothers, Sam Seiden of Avenel and Carland Hunnaman of Colonia; her grandparents, Peter and Joyce Ferriero of Gouldsboro, Pa., Joseph and Joan Mellet of Linden, Jane Seiden of Cranford, and Guillermo and Frances Ibarra of South River; her godparents, Joseph Mellet and Judy Ferriero; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and her friends are coping with the loss of Ashlyn.

"It's been hard," said her father. "We are all grieving in our own way. It was tough for her friends to start school

eighth grade] without her."

Ferriero added that even though he is divorced from Ashlyn's mother, they get along.

"You hear families with divorce constantly fighting with each other, but we got along," said Ferriero. "Ashlyn didn't have to grow up with any of that."

Ferriero said his daughter and her friends were not "playing on the tracks," as NJ Transit officials had claimed.

"It was a central meeting place for her and her friends to meet before they all headed to the St. John Vianney fair that night," said Ferriero. "It was rare for them to meet at the tracks."

Ferriero hoped that his daughter's accident would teach other families a lesson.

"You can't be with your children every single second of the day," he said. "My daughter made a mistake, which unfortunately cost her her life. It was a tragic accident that could have been easily avoided because of the easy access to get on the train tracks."

Ferriero added that people with children have to love their children as much as they can, and children have to listen to their parents.

Ferriero said the last time he saw his daughter was the day before the accident.

"It was a Monday … she was with her friends playing in the pool in the backyard," he said. "It was the day after Father's Day."

That was also the last day Carland saw his older sister.

"I was playing in my neighbor's pool next door," Carland said. "She had come over to me and poured a Coke on my arm, and I splashed water at her."

Ferriero said the next day, he received a call from Ashlyn's stepfather, who told him that "there was a train accident and Ashlyn was gone."

"I flew down Avenel Street and ran onto the platform," said Ferriero. "I saw her body laying there; it was covered, but I saw her."

While Ferriero reminisced about his daughter, a train whistle was heard in the distance.

"I notice them constantly now," he said. "I guess I never really noticed them before, because I got used to them, but now I hear them all the time."

Ferriero said his daughter, who was three weeks shy of her 13th birthday (July 9), was looking forward to becoming a teenager.

"Her favorite things were her cell phone, computer and her friends," said Ferriero. "She was constantly chatting on her computer. She was just your typical girl who thought she was a teenager."

On her birthday, Ferriero said, family and friends gathered at her mother's home in Avenel and released balloons toward Heaven for Ashlyn.

Township and school officials held a memorial service in front of Avenel Middle School for her family and friends on Sept. 12.

"They planted a tree in honor of Ashlyn," said Ferriero.

Ferriero said his daughter influenced so many people and was respected by so many during her brief time on Earth.

"She was a great girl and everybody's angel," said Ferriero. "She was so easy to tell anything to. Maybe God wanted her to do the same up there in Heaven … it sucks, because we would rather want her here with us."

Ashlyn was born in North Livingston and moved to the Colonia section of Woodbridge when she was 4 years old. Then she moved to the Avenel section of Woodbridge in 2002. She was a communicant of St. John Vianney Roman Catholic Church in Colonia, a student of Verne Fowler School of Dance, also in Colonia, played soccer on the Colonia team, and played in the Colonia Softball League.

"She had her first dance solo on stage 10 days before the accident," said Ferriero.

Ferriero said he has found solace in the constant messages that are left on Ashlyn's MySpace page.

"I read them every day," he said. "Her friends have also made a memorial video, which they placed on YouTube."

For more information about the Fashion Love Ashlyn Educational Fund and the benefit dinner, call Frank and Maria Castrogiovanni at (732) 750-1787 or Maureen Pitonzo at (732) 855-8615. Ticket sales will close on Nov. 9.

A drop box for donations is located at Avenel Middle School, or donations can be sent to Frank and Maria Castrogiovanni, 31 Apollo Ave., Avenel, NJ 07001, or to Maureen Pitonzo, 74 Commercial Ave., Avenel, NJ 07001.