By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
On Nov. 20, members of Whitewater High School’s S.A.D.D. (Students Against Destructive Decisions) organization presented a check for $80 to Tanya Scherer as a contribution to “Missy’s Mission,” a scholarship established in memory of Melissa Jeanne Patrick, a 1992 graduate of WHS who passed away on Oct. 13, 2013, as the result of an automobile accident in the Town of Whitewater.
The money was raised on Oct. 28 from 4 to 8 p.m. at The Yogurt Shoppe in Whitewater.
Earlier, on Oct. 12, more than $1,200 was raised at Wanda’s Waterfront through the sale of brats, burgers, hotdogs and baked goods, along with raffles and silent auctions.
Tanya Scherer, Patrick’s sister, said: “I decided last year, shortly after losing Missy, that I wanted to do something in Missy’s name because she was such a caring and giving person. We lost her so suddenly because of someone’s destructive decisions. The only thing that seemed to keep me afloat was the idea of doing something in her memory. I decided on the scholarship.”
The first two $300 scholarships were funded by Scherer and her mother and awarded to WHS 2014 graduates.
In addition to being a memorial to Patrick, Scherer said another goal of the scholarship is “to bring awareness to how destructive decisions change lives. We want to be advocates for making good decisions. We don’t want someone else’s destructive decisions to take somebody else’s Missy away from them.”
Future scholarships will be given from money raised at annual fundraiser events.
In applying for the scholarship, students must write a statement on what it meant to them to have their parents’ support and encouragement.
“We got some great letters,” Scherer reported, “and encouraged the authors to share those letters with their parents.”
“We lost Missy way too soon, but there is one constant that our family can agree on and that is that we all knew what we meant to her and know that she knew what she knew what she meant to us.”
“It is important to get those you care about know how you feel,” Scherer reflected. “Because you just never know when time will run out.”
The “Missy’s Mission” scholarship account has been opened at First Citizens State Bank in Whitewater where donations can be made at any time.
