Upon Jason's death we established the "Jason Plite Memorial Fund" in hopes
of being able to give a gift to the Swimming and Art Departments (two of Jason's passions)
of the Grand Ledge High School where he attended and graduated from in 1999.
The Fund did so incredibly well we felt it was imperative that we incorporate the Fund, 
appoint a Board of Directors, and establish it as a charitable/non-profit organization and continue
to raise funds so that we can give out Grants and Scholarships to students in the Grand Ledge
Community pursuing further education in Art and Swimming! We will continue to raise funds by holding an annual Fund Raising Dinner Event each April.

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2008 Dinner Event a huge success!

The Jason Plite Memorial Fund would like to extend their gratitude to all who attended the 5th Annual Dinner and Silent Art Auction on Friday April 18th, 2008.  We were honored to have present two Gold Star families, the parent(s) of David Huhn and Andrew Nelson, Rebecca Schaffer and Nick Ballou (two previous scholarship recipients), Jim Shell and Cathy Wilhm (2 school board members), Colonel Harvey Johnson (commander of the ROTC Silver Eagles) and Sheriff Mike Raines.  Amongst these guests were the many who have attended in the past and given us their continued support, what a great honor for us.  Also, to all the new attendees we hope you had a great time and enjoyed our tremendous guest speaker, Terry Dietz.

Terry Dietz is a former Navy Pilot, swimmer and Survivor Panama-Exile Island finalist.  Terry showed us a clip of one challenge that he won and afforded him the opportunity to have a night with his wife.  Terry spoke about how his military training was very helpful in all of the challenges while on the show.  Perseverance, determination and drive were some of the traits that Jason’s family and fellow PJ’s know all to well, and were key factors to Terry’s success.  Terry graciously donated a keepsake from survivor for auction.

We also had the pleasure of having Mr. Robert M. Henry attend.   Robert is a well-renowned artist from Sanford Maine.  Mr. Henry painted a portrait of Jason that was part of the Faces of the Fallen Memorial at Arlington Cemetery, and at the closing ceremony he met Jason’s Mom and was so inspired that he kept in touch and made it a personal conviction to be apart of our celebration and support us with not only donating several of his own art, but requested that other members of his online art gallery, Eons Art Gallery, donate pieces as well.  These and ones donated by several local artists (pottery, jewelry, photographs) are what made the auction such a success.  Both Mr. Henry and Mr. Dietz talked about how important it is to have a dream and to follow it.

This year, as well as last, we awarded three very promising young students a scholarship.  Their dreams, desires and hopes were ones shared by Jason. The Jason Plite Memorial Fund was more than pleased to help them accomplish these goals with our scholarships.  This being our 5th year we decided to increase the scholarships as a show of our continued gratitude.

Jordan Docking – Jordan received a $1,100 art scholarship and plans on attending Lansing Community College for 2 years and then applying to Kendall Art School to earn a degree in Video Game Designs.

Ryan Holmes – Ryan received a $5,000 Art Scholarship and will be attending Ferris State University to pursue a career in the Art of Advertising and possibly get his teaching degree in art and return to Grand Ledge High School.

Laura Pierce – Laura received a $5,000 swimming scholarship and plans on attending Grand Valley State University to major in Biomedical Science and pursue a career as a Physical Therapist or Microbiologist.

Congratulations and good luck to all three of these aspiring students.

A special thanks to the MSU Air Force ROTC “Silver Eagle” Drill Team for once again presenting and retiring the Colors. 

Shaynah Peterson provided us with a musical tribute to her brother Jason to complete the evening.

To all the local business who continually show their support – Delta Flowers, Horrocks, Sam’s Club, Colleen’s Cuisine, Palmer Bush and Jensen Funeral Home, The Opera House and many more.

Each and every year the support we receive from the community, artists and the Guest Speakers allows us the opportunity to give back through these scholarships. This is a rewarding tribute to Jason, we could never say Thank You enough.

MSU Air Force ROTC "Silver Eagles" Drill team presents colors.

 

Silent Art Auction

 

 

               Grand Ledge Opera House                                                                            Event Guests

 

                           

                       Robert M Henry                           GUEST SPEAKERS                    Terry Deitz

             

                                                                                     

                     Shaynah Sings!                                                                              Well done!

 

Scholarship Recipients

Laura Pierce, Ryan Holmes (Dawn Peterson) & Jordan Docking

 

 

 The Jason Plite Memorial Fund Board Of Directors

Mary Gwardzinski, Colleen Austin, Amy Looyenga, Dawn Peterson, Amanda McDnald, PamGeorge & Sara Clark-Pierson

Mark your calendar for the 2009 dinner event!
Friday April 17th!

 

  Jason's Family

Charles, Dawn, Shaynah, & Alyssa Peterson

 

If you would like to attend or send a tax deductible contributions to:

Jason Plite Memorial Fund
P.O. Box 81064
Lansing, MI 48908
       (or)
C/O Flagstar Bank
914 Charlevoix Dr., Suite 100
Grand Ledge, MI  48837


Thank you to all for the very generous donations. The support from our Community
and throughout the USA has been overwhelming. This is such a special way to keep
Jason's Memory alive, and to turn a tragedy into something good. Your support
and kindness is truly appreciated !

For additional information, send e-mail to following address:


"info@jasonplitememoromial.com"