Foundation Starts Fundraising Push With $45,000 Check to Save Centralia Athletics

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Tax-deductible Donations Can Be Made at TallTigers.com, as Well as The Purchasing of Tigers-Themed Gear

In 1972, Centralia experienced a double levy failure that caused a loss in funding for the school district’s athletics. Forty-eight years later, the district is facing the same problem after consecutive levy failures in February and August.

One organization has taken a chapter out of the past in order to temporarily save youth sports.

This summer, after the first levy failure, the Centralia Athletic, Activities and Facilities Foundation (CAAFF) met and talked about what it could do if the levy failed again in August. Board member Tom Alderson brought up his memory of the Tall Tigers, a group of community members who banded together and raised enough money to temporarily fund athletics after the 1972 levy failed. 

“The discussion started, ‘Hey, if things don’t go as planned, why don’t we resurrect the Tall Tigers?’” CAAFF President Jeff Thummel said.

CAAFF is presenting a check for $45,000 to allow the school district to fund high school junior varsity and c-squad sports for the 2020-21 school year, as well as seventh and eighth grade varsity middle school teams.

Before the $45,000 donation, the school district was going to be able to offer varsity-only sports at the high school and possibly intramural middle-school sports for the 2020-21 school year — no high school JV and C-squad, and no middle school varsity and JV. The varsity-only funding came from the Associated Student Body offering its money to cover overhead costs, such as transportation and event workers’ pay. Plus, each coach had agreed to work for free.

“It’s pretty amazing we have coaches willing to donate their time and an organization willing to restructure their finances to help our students,” said Lisa Grant, Centralia School District superintendent. “That says something about their belief in our students, district and community.”

CAAFF is donating $25,000, while Centralia Athletic Director Scott Chamberlain asked the coaches if they would donate part of their team’s money that is housed in CAAFF accounts. They agreed, which added up to another $14,000. Plus, the 12 CAAFF board members agreed to donate a total of $6,000 of their personal money to the cause.

That will fund those teams through January to June of the 2020-21 school year and fall of 2021. It will not be able to cover beyond that, which is two-thirds of the 2021-22 school year.

Now CAAFF is asking the community to help further the cause.



The foundation is unveiling a new website, TallTigers.com, where tax-deductible donations can be made. 

Tigers-themed gear can also be purchased on the site. One hundred percent the donations and a minimum of 25 percent of the proceeds from Tiger gear sales will go toward preserving the athletic programs.

"One is we want to be able to offer more athletic opportunities at the middle school,” Thummel said. “Secondly, we also need to start a fund to help pay coaches starting in the fall of 2021."

This all comes after back-to-back levy failures in February and August. The February levy failed with a resounding 69 percent “no” vote, while the Aug. 4 levy saw a massive swing in “yes” votes but narrowly failed with a 50.38 percent “no” vote. 

“It’s kind of like when you play a really good and close game and lose,” Grant said. “They’re almost harder to lose. At the same time, you feel good about how you played. We are taking the positive from that, and to have that big of a swing we are thankful for the support.”

Now with CAAFF, a nonprofit entering the fold, athletics will be saved, temporarily.

CAAFF’s main mission is to enhance facilities for the Centralia School District. A recent project involved the remodeling of the high school gym, which CAAFF paid for the artwork on the wall mats. The foundation also paid for the new athletic and academic state champion sign that greets visitors at the entrance to the high school.

“I want people to understand this is a one-year fix,” Thummel said. “We still have to pass the levy next year. We can’t, as a group, sustain it. We can start it and get it rolling for this year and the fall of next year, but we need to get through this as a community and then work on passing a levy next year.”

It’s still too early for the Centralia School District board to decide when to run the next levy. Grant said they want to be better prepared for when it does.

“The board is studying the options,” Grant said. “We have a budget task force also helping us look at all those options. At some point, yes, we will run the levy again. But we want to make sure we’ve studied and analyzed it all carefully before the board makes a final decision on that.”

The levy failure, which brings the budget shortfall to $11.9 million, means the school district will operate without levy funds for the second half of the 2020-21 school year and most of the 2021-22 school year.

“We had 4,000 ‘yes’ votes, approximately, so my ask of people is if they were a ‘yes’ voter and they are in support of money to keep athletics and make it shine, if they would be willing to donate to this cause,” Thummel said. “Understanding that next year in 2021, people won't be paying for the levy in their property taxes. This is a tax-deductible payment if they donate to us and they’re helping to save athletics here in Centralia.”