News 12: ‘Kind and generous soul.’ Andrew’s Top Gun Run 5K honors Boy Scout killed by drunk driver

News 12, March 25, 2023:

Runners hit the pavement Saturday morning in Calverton in honor of a late Boy Scout from Wading River.

Andrew's Top Gun Run 5K honors the life of 12-year-old Andrew McMorris, who was struck and killed by a drunk driver as he was hiking with Boy Scout Troop 161 in Manorville in September 2018. 

Saturday marked what would have been Andrew’s 17th birthday. 

“He was a kind and generous soul. He would always give to others. He literally would give the shirt off his back to others,” says Andrew’s father, John McMorris. 

The run was held on a runway as a tribute to Andrew's love of flying.

His parents say though their son's dreams of becoming a pilot were cut short, his spirit of giving lives on in scholarships named in his memory.

The McMorris family says they are grateful for the show of support from so many in the community.

“When you lose a child or lose anyone, you feel forever broken, and by being put together by everyone here, it kind of holds us together,” says Alisa McMorris, Andrew's mother. 

Andrew's grandparents gave each of the runners a race coin with the McMorris family slogan, "We finish what we started." The message helps spread awareness against drunk driving and celebrates Andrew's spirit.

The money raised at Saturday’s 5K will be split between the Andrew McMorris Foundation and the Suffolk County Boy Scouts of America.