2009

Food Donors

Thank you for your tremendous support for Grad Nite Live!

2007

From the Marshfield Mariner: Fitzgerald family aids Grad Nite Live By Kathryn Koch GateHouse News Service Tue May 22, 2007, 02:28 PM EDT Marshfield - If she were alive today, Molly Fitzgerald would be helping her sister Caitlin prepare for graduation and the Grad Nite Live celebration for seniors that follows on graduation night. Molly’s untimely death on Father’s Day, June 18, 2006 made this impossible, but Molly’s family wants to help the organizers of Grad Nite Live make the annual drug- and alcohol-free celebration possible this year on Saturday, June 2, and in future years. Jim Fitzgerald, a former selectman, has worked at Grad Nite Live in the past, and although parents aren’t allowed to chaperone when their child participates, he and his family will help share in the celebration. Jim and Cathy Fitzgerald and their family are donating $1,000 from the Molly Fitzgerald Memorial Fund to Grad Nite Live at a time when Jim said the celebration is hurting for funding. Fitzgerald said Grad Nite Live is just the kind of opportunity to perform a community service that they are looking to support with the money they raise in Molly’s name. “I think the community needs to rise up and fill that gap, and we’re glad to be able to do that,” he said. Bill Bowers of the Grad Nite Live committee said fund-raising gets more difficult each year, and they are short of their goal. He said the donation from the Fitzgeralds came out of the blue but was very welcome. “We are highly appreciative,” he said. “This one touches our hearts a bit more because this is connected to Molly.” Bowers said organizers are being cost-conscious and making an effort to control expenses, but it still costs about $25,000 to put on Grad Nite Live. Part of the money they raise goes toward the follow year’s celebration. “We’re confident we can pull off Grad Nite Live this year,” he said. “The concern is what we’ll be able to do next year.” Molly would have been nearing the end of her sophomore year this year and looking forward to her own Grad Nite Live celebration in two years, her father said. He said Molly was such a part of the school community that she would want them to help keep Grad Nite Live alive. He said Cathy likes to support school enrichment programs in Molly’s name because she loved participating in school activities. Bowers said donations to support Grad Nite Live could be mailed to Grad Nite Live at P.O. Box 328, Marshfield Hills 02051. Bowers said the celebration is a gift from the community, so everyone in town is invited to a community preview from 7 to 9 p.m. June 2 at the high school. The Fitzgeralds are gearing up for the first Molly’s Walk on Father’s Day, June 17. They are raising money for scholarships and community service projects that affect the lives of Marshfield students. The 5K, 3.1-mile walk and fun run to benefit the Molly Fund will begin at 9 a.m. rain or shine. Registration starts at 8 a.m. at the Marshfield High School fields. Anyone interested in participating can request pledge forms by writing to the Molly Fitzgerald Memorial Fund at P.O. Box 1292, Marshfield 02050. For information, visit the website mollyfund.net.

2006

THANK YOU "4th Of July Committee!" Donation a display of good will By Ryan Bray/ rbray@cnc.com Wednesday, May 3, 2006 It was bad news for the Marshfield Fourth of July Committee last week, but it made for a happy ending for Grad Nite Live. Due to concerns from the board of public works, the committee announced at Town Meeting Tuesday, it would not be holding the second annual July 4 fireworks display at the Marshfield Fairgrounds this year. According to committee member Kevin Dowling, board of public works member Bob Shaughnessy expressed concern that the perchlorate in the fireworks could contaminate the aquifer on the fairgrounds site and a nearby well. Despite his own disappointment, Dowling found a way to give another group in town a boost when he approached Grad Nite Live committee member Bill Bowers and offered to shift the funding for the Fourth of July fireworks display to the cash strapped all night graduation party being planned for the MHS Class of 2006. In light of the fiscal constraints facing the town, Bowers was preparing to pull the article requesting $5,000 in funding the group usually gets from the town, when Dowling announced the Fourth of July Committee would donate all of its funds, totaling exactly $5,000, to Grad Nite Live. "I didn’t know exactly what was happening," Bowers said. "They kept it very close to their vest." "They (Grad Nite Live) were in dire straits," Dowling said. "They needed the money and we had the $5,000, so it fit nicely." For the past 10 years, the Marshfield Grad Nite Live Committee has been helping high school seniors celebrate graduation in a safe, drug-and-alcohol-free environment. Bowers said the committee looks to raise about $25,000 annually to put together the event, but that without the town’s help fundraising has been tougher this year. He said the committee has raised about 80 percent of the necessary funding to date. "It’s a huge boost," Bowers said of the committee’s donation. "We’re still slightly behind, but I’m confident we’ll be okay this year." While Dowling said the Fourth of July Committee was happy to donate its funds under the circumstances, he’s upset at the public works board’s decision to discontinue this year’s fireworks celebration.