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| Contributed photo Of the seven volunteers that donated their time earlier this month to fundraise for the Marissa Lloyd Sunshine Fund included three local faces: Kenneth Lloyd of Caribou, Kristin Lloyd, formerly of Caribou and Michelle Wyman, formerly of Presque Isle. |
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — While the Marissa Lloyd Sunshine Fund has received support from the region in years past, officials took fund-raising efforts south this year for a unique opportunity.
The Marissa Lloyd Sunshine Fund has been in existence since 2008, when second-grader Marissa Lloyd tragically passed away. To keep her spirit alive, Marissa’s family, friends and volunteers distribute books every year to area second-graders that address topics like death and bullying.
During the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championship this year, held on Kiawah Island in South Carolina, seven volunteers donated their hard work to the Levy Restaurants Concession for Charity Program; for their efforts, the seven volunteers earned an hourly rate donation to raise funds for the Marissa Lloyd Sunshine Fund.
“Our goal was to raise at least $1,000 for the fund,” said Marissa’s mother, Kristin Lloyd. Volunteers will find out next week how much the officially raised for the Sunshine Fund, but Kristin believes the volunteers met their $1,000 goal.
Formerly of Caribou, Lloyd remains connected to her daughter’s fund even though she now lives in South Carolina.
Four of her friends from South Carolina assisted in fund-raising for the northern Maine non-profit, as well as Michelle Wymann, formerly of Presque Isle, and Marissa’s uncle Kenneth Lloyd.
“My brother drove over 1,300 miles from Caribou to South Carolina to help out with the event,” Kristin said, adding that it was great to still be able to fundraise for Marissa’s fund even while being so far away from Caribou.
Working at the concession stand, the seven did everything from hauling drinks to cleaning tables and wrapping up hamburgers/hotdogs for hungry patrons.
Not only did the volunteers get to catch glimpses of players like PGA Championship Winner Rory Mcllroy, they also enabled excellent publicity for the growing Sunshine Fund.
“The Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund was mentioned in the 94th PGA Championship Community Relations booklet, which can be found online in a PDF version,” Kristin explained. “The exposure can only help us to grow our fund and to be able to provide more children with books that provide life lessons about bullying, separation, anxiety, death and much more.”
This year, the Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund provided nearly 115 books to second-graders in Caribou, Woodland, New Sweden, Connor, Limestone and Caswell. It was also the first year that the Sunshine Fund named a Sunshine Citizenship Award at each school, presenting winner with a T-shirt featuring the logo’s fund and a certificate of acknowledgement.
Additional information regarding the Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund can be obtained by visiting their Facebook page.
