Centralia College Foundation Hosts Virtual Gala; Raises almost $35,000

The Centralia College Foundation hosted its annual gala virtually this year on Saturday, Nov. 7 which featured an update on the Southwest Washington Flexible Training (SWFT) Center, a silent auction and the presentation of this year’s Trailblazer Award.

The Centralia College Foundation raised nearly $10,000 during the virtual gala and about $24,000 before the start of the event — totaling almost $35,000 raised to go toward the education of Centralia College students. 

The gala began with a speech given by Centralia College President Dr. Bob Mohrbacher to let donors and gala attendees know the funds would help Centralia College students and help complete the SWFT Center.

Joe Dolezal, President of the Centralia College Foundation Board of Directors, presented the Trailblazer Award to Becky McGee, a Centralia College Foundation Board member since 2000. McGee has shown her dedication by serving on the board and for being engaged with the college for decades, Centralia College Foundation Executive Director Christine Fossett said.

The Trailblazer award is given to “someone who had been instrumental in supporting the foundation, and its mission to help students and the college,” Fossett said.

The SWFT Center, a 12,000 square-foot building that will house various industrial trades training courses, was a topic of conversation during the gala. Dolezal spoke about how the SWFT Center is going to help students and local industries. 

Construction of the SWFT Center is expected to be complete by this winter and open to students for the college’s winter quarter.

 The SWFT Center will have three classrooms that can be multi-use and will house the Commercial Driver’s License simulator and the Forestry Simulator. One of the three classrooms will be used for healthcare courses, such as EMT and CPR training. There will also be a large concrete-floored space in the back of the building that will be big enough to house large pieces of specialized equipment for various courses.

“Employers were saying that they had specific training needs that weren’t being met and so they had to send their employees out of the area. We were hearing that often enough that the college decided that they wanted to fill that gap and the (Centralia College) Foundation board agreed,”  Fossett said about the SWFT Center in July. 

Lorri Speer, a program director at Centralia College, and Jake Fay, dean of instruction at the college, also spoke about the impact the SWFT Center will have on the community at the virtual gala. Centralia College used a TransAlta Coal Transition grant for $1.3 million for the building of the Southwest Washington Flexible Training Center.

There were numerous items up for auction at the virtual gala including bottles of bourbon, sunglasses, jewelry, a designer purse and gift baskets from local businesses. Tickets to the virtual gala cost $25. Gala attendees had the option to order take out food to eat during the virtual event from selected restaurants — McMenamin’s Olympic Club, Dick’s Brewing, Jeremy’s Farm to Table and Bateaux Cellars Wines —  that would be making a contribution to the gala. 

More information about the Centralia College Foundation can be found on its website at www.centralia.edu/foundation/default.aspx.