Scholarship created in memory of 17-year-old groom who died earlier this week from horse-related injury sustained while working at Central Kentucky Thoroughbred farm

LEXINGTON, KY - At the request of friends of the Michelle Fuerniss family, the Kentucky Equine Management Internship Program (KEMI) has established a "Michelle Fuerniss Scholarship Fund" in memory of Michelle Fuerniss, a 17-year-old groom who died from chest trauma at the University of Kentucky Hospital on Monday. Miss Fuerniss was kicked in the chest on Monday morning while working at Steeple Hill Farm in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

Checks for the Michelle Fuerniss Scholarship Fund should be made payable to:

KEMI

P.O. Box 910628

Lexington, KY 40591

KEMI is a 501(c) (3) not for profit organization and all contributions into this scholarship fund in memory of Michelle Fuerniss are tax deductible.

Leslie Janecka, coordinator for the KEMI Program, noted that contributions will be utilized for scholarships for exemplary KEMI students.

KEMI is a curriculum intended to recruit an educated, enthusiastic work force with an affirmative, life-long participation in the equine industry. Working in close cooperation with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Manager's Club, this non-profit internship program is designed by educators and farm managers with the purpose of providing a unique "hands-on" theoretical training for students. These internships are intended to attract presently enrolled or recently graduated college or university students who are interested in pursuing a career in the equine industry. The internship program began in January 2000.

For more information, visit the KEMI web site at www.KEMI.org, or contact: Leslie Janecka, Coordinator of the KEMI Program, at (859) 277-2512 (office) or (859) 576-6256 (mobile).

.