“We (Julie and Norb) love being a part of this community. After all these years, people still approach us about Alec. People around town come up to us from time to time and say, “Are you Alec’s dad?” Stopping to share stories about Alec. It is great, we get so excited.”
Alec Salamonski’s parents established this scholarship as a memorial to their son who was killed by a distracted driver in November of 2006. Alec was active in Skills USA, Youth Apprenticeship, and Computer Sciences. A 2005 graduate of Marshfield H.S. Alec was employed as a computer technician. As a high school senior, he represented Wisconsin at the National Skills USA Competition in Kansas City in Computer Maintenance. He had a lighthearted sense of humor and an unforgettable smile.
We enjoyed sitting down with Julie and Norb and hearing about their scholarship experience at the Foundation. We decided to meet at Culvers, because Alec loved going there. Julie and Norb keep all mementos together in a scrapbook, including, scholarship award certificates, handwritten presentation notes, thank you letters from recipients and parents, photos, scholarship award night programs and more.
“The thank-you messages are meaningful. The recipients appear thankful and that is cool. It’s great to hear about their lives and future plans.”
What would you say to someone wanting to start a scholarship fund at the Foundation?
“I would say do it! It’s very rewarding.
The Foundation makes it seamless. We don’t need to worry about managing it. We don’t have to worry about verifying the school the recipient is attending or whether they are a qualifying applicant, the Foundation takes care of it all. You don’t even have to present the award if you don’t want to, the Foundation can do that.
Because it is such an emotional time, you’re worried about getting through it, the Foundation makes it easy and not complicated so we can focus on the emotional aspect of it, which is very heavy.”
Julie and Norb believe their son’s legacy and memory can live on through education. At each scholarship award ceremony they celebrate Alec’s memory while keeping the focus of the evening on the recipient.
“It started out where the recipient knew Alec. There were a couple in the beginning where they knew him.
But last year, we were chatting with the recipient, getting our picture taken, and the mom came over to us and said, “You know, I went to school with Alec.” Whoa!”
The Salamonskis plan to have 2025 scholarship season be their last. A generation of giving. Nineteen heartfelt years since the loss of their son. What a beautiful number to end on. As Julie stated, “Forever 19, that’s what he is.“
Visit our Scholarships page: https://www.marshfield.foundation/scholarships/
Visit Our Funds page: https://marshfieldcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list
Contact the Foundation: info@marshfield.foundation