The Stevi STARS Foundation is planning a holiday gala on December 3rd to honor the first inductees into the newly created Stevensville Schools Hall of Fame and to raise money for a new track and new tennis courts at Stevensville School.
The STARS Foundation started in 2019 but like everything else, efforts were somewhat slowed down by the pandemic. Heidi Yaskus, Sarah Armijo and Renee Endicott made up the original board along with a couple of others that have since moved. The current board is made up of Armijo, president, Endicott, Lori and Steve Lewis, Steffani Olson, Jane Bigelow and Yaskus, who is the secretary.
STARS stands for “Supporting the Arts, Recreation and Sports.” The organization is “committed to supporting the developing talents of Stevensville youth through the arts and athletic programs,” according to the mission statement. “Our goal is to provide a safe and inspiring environment for the future adults of our community. This includes acquiring the necessary facilities, equipment and ongoing support for their budding interests throughout their time as a youth in Stevensville. We believe the pursuit of artistic and athletic talents provides opportunity for discipline and hard work. We partner with the youth, parents, teachers, administrators, businesses and all members of this community who share a love for our young people and a belief that a thriving community begins with how we treat our children.”
Yaskus said that one of their members, Renee Endicott, headed up the Bear Mountain Playground project at Lewis & Clark Park, “so she has the most experience at this. But all of us are all in on this and we all have the same goal.”
She said the non-profit organization was created after a group of parents, teachers and administrators got together with the realization that they needed to fundraise for the things that the public didn’t want to pay for with the bond that funded school building improvements.
“The athletic portion of the bond was removed,” said Yaskus. “But we needed a track. We’re not even able to host track meets here. The same with the tennis courts, they are cracked.”
She said that without these facilities, the school is missing out on the opportunity to host meets and tournaments. Also, she said, the facilities would be accessible to the community during off-school hours.
“We decided to privately fundraise,” said Yaskus. “We’re all busy. We have kids. We work. But we want to improve the school and contribute for the kids. We all knew this might not happen before our own kids grad
uate. But everyone will benefit. You have happy youth, they grow up, they contribute to our town. We feel like there is a big community/school connection.”
Yaskus and her husband Barry have two children at Stevensville High School – two boys, a freshman and a senior – as well as a daughter who graduated in 2017.
Initially, STARS held a chili feed, multiple “black-out runs,” and participated in the 50-mile yard sale. Nearly $100,000 of the estimated $1.2 million needed has been raised so far. A donor has committed to matching any funds raised for the tennis courts.
“Our hope,” said Yaskus, “is that we can pay for these needed facilities and then eventually look at other things that are lacking, like a space for our speech and drama to perform. Those are just as important. Sports gets the attention, the arts sometimes get neglected.”
She said that, as a 501c3 tax-exempt non-profit, “we can gift these facilities to the school but we can retain a bit of say over what happens.”
She pointed to the recent successful effort to fund the inaugural baseball season at Stevensville as something STARS was able to help with.
“That money was funneled through the STARS Foundation,” said Yaskus. “We were able to be the fiscal sponsor but all that money will go specifically toward the baseball program.”
This year’s big event will celebrate the inaugural Hall of Fame inductees (see accompanying story). The event will also celebrate the completion of the school improvement project. The December 3rd gala will include a cocktail hour, silent auction, dinner by Mission Bistro, and presentation of inductees. Each of the nine inductees will be presented with a plaque and have an opportunity to speak. Then a live auction with auctioneers Jim Pfau and Bill McNulty – including dinner with Huey Lewis prepared by Mission Bistro, trips, art, etc. – a dessert dash, and live music will round out the evening. The high school track team will help with set up and take down. The event is being held at Summit Career Center at Fort Owen Ranch. Tickets are $65 per person which includes the meal and a drink ticket. Only 160 spots are available. For tickets email: stevistarsfoundation@gmail.com or venmo: gala@stevistars. Watch for updates on social media.
“We’re hoping this brings attention to this need,” said Yaskus. “We’re here to help. We all have our different niches in the society and the community and we all can work together. We’re always open to anybody who has fundraising ideas or wants to contribute in any way. We hope to pass the torch on to other people. And hopefully, the school will be able to take over some of these things in the future.”