"You know that scene in 'It's a Wonderful Life' at the end of the movie, where Jimmy Stewart, he's in trouble and the tax collector and the police, they're all there at his house?" Jamie Ryan asked. "And then the whole community shows up and they dump money into this basket. ... I can't help but think of that scene when I open up the envelopes."

Ryan, of Clarksville, is helping to organize a charity golf tournament in memory of his nephew, Kevin Ryan. The envelopes beginning to trickle in hold donations and registration fees for the tournament, which is scheduled for May 28 at the University of Maryland Golf Course. Proceeds from the event will go toward funding a scholarship, Kevin Ryan's Gift, at Towson University.

Kevin Ryan was an 18-year-old freshman at Towson when he was struck by a drunk driver while walking home to his dorm room on the night of Oct. 12, 2007. Early the next morning, Jamie Ryan got the call from his eldest brother Charlie, Kevin's father, that something terrible had happened and that he needed to come to the hospital.

Ryan stopped to pick up another brother, Tim, at River Hill High School, where he works as a teacher. Then he swung by his parents' home in Ellicott City and together made the somber trek up to Sinai Hospital, where Kevin had been rushed from the accident scene.

"That was a horrible drive, because my brother called and said that they had pronounced (Kevin) brain dead," Ryan recalled.

Jamie Ryan is one of eight siblings, most of whom live in Howard County. Throughout that difficult day, family members all convened at the hospital to lend their support to Kevin's family. Charlie Ryan was already thinking about how to keep his son's memory alive.

"My brother knew right away, when we knew that Kevin wasn't going to make it, he knew that he wanted to start a scholarship for kids Kevin's age," Ryan said.

It was at the hospital that Kevin's mother and father also found out for the first time that their son was an organ donor.

"They didn't know," said Ryan. "When they brought, when the police officer brought his wallet, that's when they found out that Kevin was a donor."

Although Ryan describes the organ donor process as being a painful and prolonged agony for the family, eight recipients were found who were in dire need of transplants.

The family recently received a handwritten, two-page letter from the patient who received the gift of Kevin's heart. A young father with severe heart disease, he wrote movingly about the impact that the transplant has had on his life.

"I was struck by the similarities," said Ryan, after reading the letter. "He loves the beach, was a wrestling coach. Kevin was a wrestler and loved the beach. He's a father with a 6-year-old daughter; now I'm a father with a 6-year-old daughter. There were a lot of similarities."

Jamie Ryan remembers his nephew as a fun-loving boy who had a special connection to those much younger and much older than himself. He exhibited an entrepreneurial streak from early on, cutting lawns and shoveling driveways to earn some extra spending money.

"I mean, there's not a lot of kids who read The Wall Street Journal," Ryan said. "He loved to discuss politics with his dad."

Kevin Ryan enrolled at Towson University with the intention of pursuing a degree in finance.

Organizing the golf tournament has helped the grieving extended family focus on a positive goal six months after Kevin's death. Ryan noted that the effort has brought them even closer together.

"We were already a tight-knit family, but we've become closer; we communicate with each other more," he said.

When fully funded, Kevin Ryan's Gift Scholarship Fund will bestow a $1,000 scholarship yearly to two incoming Towson University freshmen.

For more information on the scholarship fund and the May 28 golf tournament, go to www.kevinryansgift.org.

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