Wenatchee Valley Medical Group makes $25,000 CAA donation
With students there to accept it, Dr. Luther Thompson, far right, presents a $25,000 check to the Community Athletics and Activities Association on behalf of the Wenatchee Valley Medical Group Monday.
CHERYL SCHWEIZER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
MOSES LAKE — A $25,000 donation from the Wenatchee Valley Medical Group helped push a fundraising effort for Moses Lake School District's extracurricular activities to the $450,000 mark.
The group leading the fundraising drive, Community Athletics and Activities, began raising money in late June, following the rejection of an educational programs and activities levy proposal. Typically all extracurricular activities are funded through the levy.
Luther Thompson, a family practice physician at the Confluence Health clinic in Moses Lake, said WVMG is the largest physician group in the Confluence Health system. Thompson is a member of the board, and said the initiative came from the physicians in Moses Lake.
“The doctors here asked our board to consider this,” he said. “This was important to our physicians.”
Monday’s total did include about $24,0000 raised through the “Bowlathon” fundraiser at the Lake Bowl Saturday. But it did not include money raised through a student fundraiser Aug. 5, so the six-week total may exceed $500,000.
“The community has been awesome,” said CAA secretary Eva Olson.
Extracurriculars are about activity, and activity promotes better health, but there are other health benefits, Thompson said. Social isolation is a challenge for many young people, he said, with the effects of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic making the challenge even bigger. Extracurricular activities help to reduce that, he said.
“It’s important to reviving the health of our youth in our community,” Thompson said.
Jennifer Jorgensen, a gastroenterology and hepatology physician and WVMG president and CEO, said the request received unanimous support.
“(Wenatchee Valley Medical Group) believes in the importance of extracurricular activities for the mental and physical health of our youth,” Jorgensen wrote in a statement. “These programs provide essential opportunities for students to engage, grow and thrive both inside and outside the classroom.”
Donations to the CAA can be made at its website, listed below.
CONTACT:
Donation site: bit.ly/MLCAA
contact@caabooster.com
MANAGING BOARD:
Ryan Carpenter, President
Jeremy Huberdeau, Vice President
James Getzinger, Vice president
Eva Olson, Secretary
Cody Parrish, Treasurer