The Kimberly Coffey Foundation Memorial Nursing Scholarship

The Kimberly Coffey Foundation Memorial Nursing Scholarship is awarded in honor of Kimberly’s beautiful spirit to deserving high school seniors in New York State who are pursuing a career in Nursing.

Kimberly Coffey was 17 years old when she died from Meningitis B one week before her 2012 high school graduation at East Islip High School in NY and three months before starting her nursing education at Molloy University in New York.

Kimberly’s dream was to be a pediatric nurse, and through this scholarship, we hope to keep her memory present through the next generation of nurses.

Although Kim was current on all her vaccinations, including the meningococcal meningitis vaccine, she had contracted meningococcal serogroup B (meningitis B). Most have received the meningococcal meningitis vaccine (MenACWY) at age 11 with a booster at age 16. Unfortunately, that vaccine only protects against four of the five serogroups of meningococcal meningitis and does not protect against serogroup B/meningitis B. The meningitis B vaccine was not available to help protect Kimberly in 2012; however, it has been available in the U.S. since 2014. It is important to know that the NYS meningitis vaccine requirement does not include Meningitis B vaccination. Since 2011, Meningitis B has been responsible for all meningitis outbreaks on our college campuses. 

Visit this page to learn how meningococcal meningitis is transmitted, its symptoms, and how to be best protected.