Thank You Marina!

As I have noted previously in this column, I have the privilege to serve as President of The Marina Foundation. It is in this role that I wish to thank the entire Marina community (and those from around the region) that helped to support our efforts to purchase an ADA equipped Van for the City’s Senior Recreation program.

I am very pleased to announce that as of our annual Man & Woman of the Year Awards dinner and fundraiser on April 6th that we have, in fact, reached our goal of raising $20,000. That is the amount that The Monterey Peninsula Foundation (host of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am) will match as part of an overall grant towards the Senior ADA Van.

This was a community wide effort from the beginning. We have received generous contributions from individuals, organizations, other non-profits and companies to reach this goal. It represents a major milestone for our community and for The Marina Foundation. It is now up to us to work with the City of Marina and arrange for the purchase of the Van itself. This will take a few weeks, especially if we custom order the Van which may be the case. The good news is that it should not be all that long before we see the new Van in service to our community. Again, we thank you all.

In addition to reaching our overall fundraising goal at our annual dinner we recognized two individuals whose body of work in service to our Marina Community was recognized with the Man & Woman of the Year for 2012.

I would like to thank Sally French for all of her efforts through the years and especially as a volunteer at Marina High School. Her willingness to volunteer and help the school administration on a daily basis is amazing. In addition, she has volunteered numerous hours with the Marina High Booster’s also in support of our Marina High School. Her service has been so valued by the school that it was the schools administration that nominated her for the award. Congratulations Sally French as the 2012 Marina Woman of the Year!

I would also like to thank Mike Mast for his incredible service to the Marina Community going back to the early 70’s. Mike has served in so many capacities it’s difficult to list them all. Mike was involved in the early incorporation efforts for the City of Marina (successful in 1975), he helped to start the Marina Rotary Club and has held every office including President, he has been a vital and active member of the Marina Chamber of Commerce for years and has served as President three times. He has coached baseball and softball teams of all levels over the years and now serves as the Coach of the division champion Marina High Girls Softball Team. Congratulations to Mike Mast as the 2012 Marina Man of the Year!

I would like to encourage everyone to take the time to help out with our community, be it with the school PTSA or boosters, your church or other community organization. The need for help is all around us. Not everyone can donate money towards a cause but we can all make a little time to help others. We have some great examples to follow with Sally and Mike.

More later...