Imagine all the great stuff that happens in the last half of your senior year of high school: prom, homecoming, senior class trip, signing each others year book, talking with friends face to face about the future, hugs and smiles. Now imagine all that grinding to a half and having your senior year marred by a pandemic! That is what is happening to our Sequim High School seniors … young men and women whose senor year experiences were cut short by the coronavirus and stay-at-home orders for their safety. Many are depressed, but most are making the best of a bad situation. They will plan to go to vocational school or college, and they still have hope, and a purpose for their futures.

It is our tradition to give a little bit of tuition help to these future nurses, doctors, teachers, therapists, auto mechanics, engineers, hair dressers, fire fighters and other who we know WILL be the ones taking care of us older folks in the years to come!

We have done this by giving modest scholarships of $1,000 each out of a small percentage of the proceeds of our Annual Benefit Sale. This year, our scholarship fund was boosted in a huge way by Fred Chan, who left us funds in his will specifically to establish the Fred Chan STEMM Scholarship Fund. STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine). We look forward to publishing a letter that Fred wrote to us, shortly before his passing, in a future issue. We are told by his executor that in it he shared his life story and his hopes for our Center and the kids we help with scholarships. Before his estate is even settled, we decided to go ahead and get started helping kids with the funds that are on the way from Fred.

Here are the kids we are able to help this year with our regular $1,000 scholarships and with the new $2,500 Fred Chan STEMM Scholarships.

Congratulations to all the 2020 Graduating Seniors – We wish you the very BEST!

Michael