Matthew Welna What started as an effort to establish a scholarship in memory of a brother and friend has blossomed into an endeavor to spread goodwill and keep his benevolent spirit alive.
Matthew Welna, a Sayreville native and Monroe Township resident, was repeatedly characterized as “selfless” and “genuine.” According to friends and family, he was just the kind of person whom everybody loved.
Welna died in March at the age of 25 after being struck by a dump truck.
Welna’s closest friends, who remember him as a caring and lighthearted person, formed the non-profit Welna Foundation a month later with the intent of establishing a scholarship at Sayreville War Memorial High School (SWMHS) in Matthew’s memory.
“Matthew was the greatest guy I knew. He was thoughtful and generous,” said Marco Colandrea, president of the Welna Foundation and a high school friend of Matthew’s. “I always try to be a good person, but for him it was almost without effort.
“The news of his death really made me reevaluate everything … and [later] we had the idea to set up a scholarship, but I wanted it to be more than that.”
Little did Colandrea know that just three months later the organization would already have raised $20,000, established scholarships at SWMHS and Welna’s alma mater, Rider University, and host the first Matthew M. Welna Memorial Soccer Classic, bringing nearly 200 people to the SWMHS soccer pitch where Welna served as the captain in high school. “So we are just going from this small idea to a big foundation,” Colandrea said. “I promised his family I would try and keep his memory alive.
“I see a lot for the future. Our dream is for it to sustain for generations,” he said.
The foundation, made up of 18 of Welna’s friends and family members, also sponsored a new scoreboard for the SWMHS field that will bear his name and be suitable for all sports, instead of just football, Colandrea said. In September, the soccer team at SWMHS will retire Welna’s jersey – No. 20 – at the behest of the foundation.
For those closest to Welna, the Welna Foundation has served as a way to feel connected to him once more and embody the selflessness he was so well known for.
“He was a great person – the best guy I ever met,” Chris Kovak, Matthew’s friend from Rider University, said in an interview. “We couldn’t just sit there and let his memory fade.
“He was the kind of guy who could make everybody laugh. I don’t remember a time I was with him that I wasn’t laughing,” he added. “He was a brother to me and a great role model.”
“Every time we’re all together it still feels like he’s there,” said Alicia Devlin, who also met Welna at Rider University. “Even though he is gone, he is still bringing people together. [Matthew] passing away has made us all want to be better people and take on the qualities that he had to really give what we can.
“I just want to keep honoring him and I don’t see us stopping, ever. We all want [the foundation] to keep going,” Devlin said. “As much as we were all friends, he was family. It was just so much more than that.”
Brian Roberts, a Sayreville resident who conducts media relations for the Welna Foundation, said he was just an acquaintance of Welna’s, but when he saw the impact his death had on his friends, he felt that he had to get involved.
“It’s how we preserve his memory and keep it alive,” Roberts said. “I just want to help out the best I know how with my skill set. That’s what he did while he was here; he brought out the best elements in everyone. “It’s really emotional to see [Matthew’s friends and family] soldiering on to get his good spirit out there,” he added. “It’s infectious.”
Michelle Welna, Matthew’s younger sister, said her favorite memories were simple ones: sitting at the kitchen table joking around with Matthew, their sister Olivia and her parents; posting fake embarrassing statuses on each other’s Facebook pages; and how much kids loved him.
“He didn’t even have to try with them,” Michelle Welna said. “We would have family parties and they would all go running up to him. He’d have one on each arm and leg. “It always made us know he would be a great father.” In all of her 22 years, Michelle Welna said, there was never a time that she didn’t want to be with both of her siblings.
“The foundation has already done so much, I just hope it continues through the years,” said Michelle Welna, who is also a trustee of the Welna Foundation. “We’re grateful to have the support and that we can all remember him this way.
“There are little bits and pieces of Matt [in the foundation.] It’s really amazing,” she said.
Matthew’s mother, Roma Welna, said in an interview that she had “so many wonderful memories of Matthew.”
“He was a very good person: a very good son, brother and friend,” she said. “He was so family oriented and just a very sweet person to live with.”
Roma remembered taking a trip with her son to see international soccer matches, recalling how happy he was to be amongst his family in such highly sought after seats.
“Things were so great then and now they’re just awful,” Roma Welna said, fighting back tears. “I wish I could turn back time.”
Jerry Welna, Matthew’s father, said he is grateful for the foundation, but the last several months have been hard.
“The foundation came out of his closest friends,” he said. “I think what they are doing is a good thing. It’s just been so hard on us. … It’s such a big loss.
“You cannot take anything [for granted] because you never know what is going to happen,” he added. “Our life is not normal now, and it will never be the same.”