Chehalis couple Mike and Sue Austin were honored with the “Chehalis Foundation Legacy Award” for their service to the Chehalis School District and community on Saturday night.
Jester’s Auto Museum was packed with attendees for the Chehalis Foundation’s annual gala, and the entire room stood to applaud the Austins.
According to Chehalis Foundation Executive Director Jenny Collins, the Legacy Award is given to individuals or organizations that have made a “significant and lasting impact” on the community in and around the Mint City.
Mike and Sue Austin, Collins said, have headed community initiatives for decades. Programs that have benefited from the duo’s donations of time and money, Collins said Saturday, include annual scholarships to W.F. West High School graduates, the high school’s career and technical education programs, including a new embroidery machine and a greenhouse watering system, school supplies for running start students, the Bearcat Baseball Field renovation project, Penny Playground, the Shaw Aquatic Center and spray park, and the Chehalis Foundation Student Achievement Initiative.
“Tonight, we honor a Chehalis couple who have given more than they have received,” Collins said.
Most notably, the Austins have raised and contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars for school supplies, backpacks and coats for “the children of our community who need support the most,” Collins said.
The couple also donates school supplies to St. Joseph’s Catholic School, according to previous reporting by The Chronicle.
Mike Austin served as president of the Chehalis Foundation for seven years, Collins said. The couple is known to “give on every level,” Collins said, even pulling weeds at Lintott-Alexander Park, which saw a renovation and reopening as one of the foundation’s first projects in 2004.
“They are warriors for our beloved Chehalis community,” Collins said.
