Huntington Scottish Rite surpasses $200,000 in contributions to Marshall's Speech and Hearing Center

 

The Huntington Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Foundation presented a check for $43,000 on July 11 to the Marshall University Speech and Hearing Center in the Department of Communication Disorders, bringing to $201,000 the amount it has contributed to the center.

 

Gov. Joe Manchin joined Marshall President Stephen J. Kopp and Board of Governors Vice Chair Menis Ketchum at the presentation, which took place at the speech and hearing center in Smith Hall on Marshall’s Huntington campus. Scottish Rite’s partnership with Marshall began in March 2002.

 

Kathryn Chezik, chair of the Department of Communication Disorders, said the financial support from the Huntington Scottish Rite helps fund a clinical faculty position providing speech-language services in the Marshall University Speech and Hearing Center.

 

“This position allows us to serve more children in the tri-state area and to assist in the clinical education of the students in the Department of Communication Disorders,” Chezik said. “We’re thankful for their hard work and generosity and their continued commitment to our program.”

 

Amy Knell is the clinician whose position has been funded by Huntington Scottish Rite for the past three years.

 

“I’m very grateful and very thankful,” said Knell, who earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Marshall. “Everything they do is from the heart and it really shows.”

 

Knell said she sees pediatric patients with communication and swallowing disorders at the center.

 

“If not for the Scottish Rite, Marshall would not have the clinical program it has and the speech and hearing center would not be able to see as many children as it sees,” Knell said.

 

Pat Oshel, president of the Huntington Scottish Rite, said raising funds and contributing to the speech and hearing center has been a “very rewarding experience” for the organization.

 

“We are quite proud of our accomplishments with the clinic and the fund-raising activities and we look forward to many more years of working with Marshall,” Oshel said. “This is an excellent example of what can be accomplished when the university and the community work together. It’s a fantastic partnership.”

 

The money is raised locally through private donations and a major fundraising project each year. This year’s project is a pig roast, scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 28 at the 4-H Camp on Alternate Route 10.

 

One of the features of the pig roast is a silent auction, with items up for bid including a week’s vacation in Hilton Head, S.C., a basketball signed by Phoenix Suns Coach and former Marshall star Mike D’Antoni and his brother, Dan, also a coach with the Suns, and some NFL memorabilia.

 

For more information or to purchase tickets to the pig roast, call Larry Bolling at the Scottish Rite office at (304) 522-1430. Tickets are $25 each and are available in advance or at the gate. Children younger than 12 are admitted free.