**THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED Two decades following her tragic graduation night death, Rebeka Verea’s memory is kept alive through a partnership between the West New York Police Department, the school system and a Foundation created by her parents.
The Rebeka Verea Foundation has been educating students on the dangers of getting into a vehicle when the driver is impaired. On Thursday outside of Memorial High School at the corner of 56th Street and Park Avenue at Rebeka Verea Way, on what would have been Rebeka’s 38th birthday, a West New York police car was blessed in honor of Rebeka’s memory.
Rebeka passed away when the car she was a passenger in in 2005 was involved in a high speed crash. The Verea family’s grief led to the formation of the Foundation, which has educated thousands of students over the past twenty years, saving countless lives.
With high school proms a month away, police, educators, elected officials and the Verea family hope students use common sense and don’t get into a vehicle when someone is under the influence.
After initially being charged with drunk driving in the crash which claimed Rebeka’s life, a jury acquitted the vehicle’s driver of being intoxicated.