At 14 years old, AJ Smullen wanted to be a forest ranger. He wanted to join the Marine Corps. He wanted to be a homestead farmer.
His dreams were cut short when he was hit by a car on state Highway 7 in February. Complications from the incident resulted in his death two weeks later.
Under a new program, somebody else can live out his dream.
“It’s for someone from in school that’s maybe not necessarily the top student in the class, but has a lot of heart, a lot of charisma and really wants an outdoor career,” said AJ’s father, Assemblyman Robert Smullen. “That’s what AJ was all about.”
The senior Smullen is in the process of setting up a nonprofit to provide up to $5,000 — $1,250 a year — to a prospective college student seeking work in an outdoor-focused field.
Donations have already funded more than a decade’s worth of scholarship awards, according to Smullen.
“Their generosity has been nothing short of amazing,” Smullen said.
In lieu of flowers at AJ’s funeral, the Smullens requested donations to go to the Meco Volunteer Fire Company and the Fulton County Regional SPCA, in addition to a memorial scholarship.
In the coming weeks, representatives from the forthcoming Alexander John Smullen Memorial Foundation are expected to start reaching out to schools in Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery counties about the new fund. Smullen intends to name a recipient for the fall semester.
The father also hopes to potentially use the foundation as a platform to promote Donate Life New York State, an organization dedicated to increasing organ and tissue donations.
AJ, a registered donor, has matched at least five people since his death. Such an impact has brought solace to Smullen and his wife Megan.
“Maybe we’ll be introduced to those families, maybe we won’t be,” Smullen said. “But we’ve said this before and we’ll say it again: we get up in the morning and pray for those families that their lives are enriched and flourish by AJ’s gift.”
More than 8,000 people in New York are on transplant waitlists and more than 400 die each year while waiting for a match. Advocates have blamed the latter on the state’s 48% organ donor enrollment rate — 16% below the national average.
“There are thousands of people that could be potential donors that aren’t signed up for the program,” Smullen said. “We want to change that.”
Since AJ’s death, Smullen has rallied to expand the state’s Donate Life program. He has promoted 2023 legislation which would require pre-licensing courses to provide donor enrollment information.