Sarah Crane was a sophomore at Elkhart Memorial High School (in Elkhart, Indiana). A letter winner in track and actively involved in cross country, drill team and dance, Sarah always maintained a positive attitude in life, sports and her academics. On July 10, 2013, that positive attitude became critically important as she was diagnosed with Stage-4 Colon Cancer; an extremely rare form of cancer for someone her age with the colon, liver, lungs and bowels affected and requiring cancer treatments consisting of surgeries and ongoing chemotherapy. While most would have given up or huddled in fear, Sarah stood strong and vowed to win this battle. Sarah refused to back down or surrender. The slogan SARAHSTRONG is where this was born. It was her mantra and focus during this difficult process. Purple represents not only the fight against all cancers, but was Sarah’s favorite color.

Unfortunately for us, Sarah's battle ended on December 7, 2013. 

With Sarah's passing and still an entire community (and beyond) still rallying, the Crane family knew they had to do something and that is when the foundation was born. The foundation provides monetary donations as well as supplies for local families with a child battling cancer, an annual scholarship at Elkhart High School and more. 

The Sarah Crane Memorial Scholarship is a one-time, $1500 scholarship awarded to an Elkhart High School senior who has participated in track, color guard, or cross country team who has a 3.0 GPA or higher.

We have presented this scholarship every year since 2014 and are proud to continue this tradition to Elkhart High School's fantastic students. We like to believe that there is a little bit of Sarah in each recipient and proud of each of these individual's successes and accomplishments. 

The 2024 Sarah Crane Memorial Scholarship recipient is Ava Decker. Congratulations, Ava!