The Marina Foundation

Ever since the creation of the Marina International Festival of the Winds back in 1999 we had dreamed of creating a Foundation that would benefit our Marina Community. After years of working around the edges we finally created The Marina Foundation in 2008. The Marina Foundation is a registered non-profit 501(c)3 public charity. While the future of the Wind Festival is in doubt the Marina Foundation is thriving and focused on our goals.

One of our goals is to benefit our senior community. To that end, The Marina Foundation applied for and received a matching grant from the Monterey Peninsula Foundation for a much needed ADA (Americans with Disabilities) Van. We call it our “Seniors on the Go” program. The van will be used to take our seniors to events throughout our region as part of the City of Marina’s Recreation program. In fact, the van can and will be used across the recreation programs as needed to allow for the inclusion of all to our City programs.

Over the course of the past several months we have been raising the funds needed to see this dream become a reality. As of this date we are well on our way to securing the funding for this van but we need the community’s help to get to our final goal. There are a couple of ways you can help. You can donate directly to The Marina Foundation by mail (PO Box 324, Marina, Ca 93933) or you can donate online at www.themarinafoundation.org and designate the “Seniors on the Go” program.

Another way you can participate is to attend our annual Man & Woman of the Year Awards dinner and fundraiser on April 6^th at the American Legion. At this event we will honor the 2012 Marina Man and Woman of the Year and raise funds for the senior van with a fun filled evening that will include a silent auction. Tickets are $25 each (or $15 for seniors 65 and older) and can be purchased through our Board members or on-line at the site listed above. If you have questions, you can always call me for additional information or to contribute an item for the silent auction at 717-4117.

Of course, The Marina Foundation does more than just raise funds for the senior program. We also raise funds for and give away scholarships to Marina High School (the Don Livermore Scholarship), Learning for Life (the Gordon Nakagawa Scholarship) and the Marina Cadets Law Enforcement Scholarship. We also support our local schools with the Marina Schools Assembly Program that is designed to encourage all schools to hold a school wide assembly each year to motivate and encourage our students. In addition, we raise funds and support the after school nutrition program at our Marina Teen Center.

Finally, The Marina Foundation is the supporting entity for our Marina Christmas Tree Lighting, the Marina International Festival of the Winds and our semi-annual Marina Community Non-Profit Summit, in addition to the Marina Man & Woman of the Year dinner.

We have a wonderful, hard working Board of Directors that does everything they can to build these programs to benefit our Marina community. I would encourage everyone to help support The Marina Foundation in whatever you can; after all, we are here for Marina’s future.

More later