MARYSVILLE — A group of Marysville Pilchuck High School alumni have formed a foundation to develop a long-term scholarship and grant program to benefit the school community.
The MP Memorial Foundation got its start when a group of alumni and community members launched a campaign to sell “Pray for Pilchuck” car window decals.
Now organized as a registered nonprofit, the group has scheduled a community meeting Tuesday to help plan its future strategy.
The group is not affiliated with the Marysville Pilchuck Recovery Fund, which has been raising money to assist families and individuals affected by the Oct. 24 shootings at the school.
Nor is the group planning to build a memorial. That effort, if it happens, would probably be led by the Recovery Fund and other entities more directly affected by the shootings, such as the Marysville School District, the Tulalip Tribes or the city of Marysville, said Danna Watson-Gibson, the organization’s president.
“Our goals and directives are going to stem from small projects and programming to have more positive impacts on the Marysville-Tulalip community,” she said.
The foundation made about $3,000-$4,000 from selling the decals and sweatshirts, Watson-Gibson said, but what that money will go toward, and how the foundation will raise more to support the programs it wants to, is still to be determined.
What the group does know is that it wants to provide college scholarships to local students, make grants for local projects, and support programs to combat bullying and educate parents about social media.
The board of the foundation plans to set up committees to tackle each of those issues, as well as future fundraising and strategies.
“We know we want to do those things,” said Emily Wicks, a volunteer with the organization. “Just how we get there is still open to discussion.”
The foundation plans to recruit volunteers at Tuesday’s meeting and from the broader Marysville-Tulalip community to lay the course for the new group.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
Foundation planning meeting
The MP Memorial Foundation is holding a community planning meeting 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, in the Big Red Barn in Jennings Park, 6915 Armar Road, Marysville. The meeting is open to the public, especially those in the Marysville and Tulalip communities. Please RSVP to mphsmemorial@gmail.com.
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