From the Marshfield Mariner:
Fitzgerald family aids Grad Nite Live
By Kathryn Koch
GateHouse News Service
Tue May 22, 2007, 02:28 PM EDT

Marshfield - If she were alive today, Molly Fitzgerald would be helping her sister Caitlin prepare for graduation and the Grad Nite Live celebration for seniors that follows on graduation night.
Molly’s untimely death on Father’s Day, June 18, 2006 made this impossible, but Molly’s family wants to help the organizers of Grad Nite Live make the annual drug- and alcohol-free celebration possible this year on Saturday, June 2, and in future years.

Jim Fitzgerald, a former selectman, has worked at Grad Nite Live in the past, and although parents aren’t allowed to chaperone when their child participates, he and his family will help share in the celebration. Jim and Cathy Fitzgerald and their family are donating $1,000 from the Molly Fitzgerald Memorial Fund to Grad Nite Live at a time when Jim said the celebration is hurting for funding.

Fitzgerald said Grad Nite Live is just the kind of opportunity to perform a community service that they are looking to support with the money they raise in Molly’s name.

“I think the community needs to rise up and fill that gap, and we’re glad to be able to do that,” he said.

Bill Bowers of the Grad Nite Live committee said fund-raising gets more difficult each year, and they are short of their goal. He said the donation from the Fitzgeralds came out of the blue but was very welcome.

“We are highly appreciative,” he said. “This one touches our hearts a bit more because this is connected to Molly.”

Bowers said organizers are being cost-conscious and making an effort to control expenses, but it still costs about $25,000 to put on Grad Nite Live. Part of the money they raise goes toward the follow year’s celebration.

“We’re confident we can pull off Grad Nite Live this year,” he said. “The concern is what we’ll be able to do next year.”

Molly would have been nearing the end of her sophomore year this year and looking forward to her own Grad Nite Live celebration in two years, her father said. He said Molly was such a part of the school community that she would want them to help keep Grad Nite Live alive. He said Cathy likes to support school enrichment programs in Molly’s name because she loved participating in school activities.

Bowers said donations to support Grad Nite Live could be mailed to Grad Nite Live at P.O. Box 328, Marshfield Hills 02051. Bowers said the celebration is a gift from the community, so everyone in town is invited to a community preview from 7 to 9 p.m. June 2 at the high school.

The Fitzgeralds are gearing up for the first Molly’s Walk on Father’s Day, June 17. They are raising money for scholarships and community service projects that affect the lives of Marshfield students.

The 5K, 3.1-mile walk and fun run to benefit the Molly Fund will begin at 9 a.m. rain or shine. Registration starts at 8 a.m. at the Marshfield High School fields. Anyone interested in participating can request pledge forms by writing to the Molly Fitzgerald Memorial Fund at P.O. Box 1292, Marshfield 02050. For information, visit the website mollyfund.net.