Four years after she was killed in her Scottsdale home, Allison Feldmanβs family and friends continue to keep her legacy alive with potential life-changing experiences for students at the University of Arizona.
The Allison Feldman Memorial Scholarship campaign is in its second year of funding study-abroad trips to approximately 60 countries, like Allisonβs 2004 trip to AlcalΓ‘ de Henares, Spain.
Itβs taken a group effort to reach the first goal, which was to fund the $25,000 endowment that will forever be in Allisonβs name with the UA Foundation. The campaign raised a total of $29,500 by the time it ended.
Today, Taylor Lepird, a UA student majoring in English and global studies, is in Guatemala thanks to donors.
βHer legacy may not be how she wanted to leave it, but itβs something that she can have in her name that she will always be remembered by,β said Robert Stirling, who Allison befriended during the Spain trip.
It was that trip to Spain that changed Allisonβs life forever, said Harley Feldman, Allisonβs father, adding that once she arrived there βshe didnβt want to come back.β
βIt isnβt just the growing up, but itβs exposure to other cultures and understanding people better and you just learn a lot that you canβt learn at home,β Harley Feldman said. βIt was the best thing that ever happened to her.β
A day after the second campaign launched on Friday, nearly 70 percent of the $10,000 goal had been reached. The campaign will remain open until March 3.
The support has strengthened her family and friends to continue their mission.
βYou never get over the loss, but there is a remaking of life. Helping these students study abroad is part of the remaking of somebody elseβs life and this really helped me,β said Elayne Feldman, Allisonβs mother.
Allison Feldman was found dead in her Scottsdale home on Feb. 18, 2015.
She had been thriving at work, was a new homeowner of eight months and had surrounded herself with a network of friends and family.
Her death started Harley Feldmanβs journey to speak with Scottsdale police and Arizona legislators that led to new DNA testing equipment used in the case. But it would take three years to find her alleged killer in April 2018.
Four years later, friends, family and supporters gathered at the UAβs Womenβs Plaza of Honor to remember Allison Feldman and share memories of a woman who βalways had a smile on her face,β said Katie Wood, her best friend.
βI didnβt know Allison during that time in her life, but I knew the Allison that came out from that time in her life and the confident woman that she was,β said Wood. βShe honestly inspired me to become the confident, working woman that I am today.β