Yelm High School class of 2004 graduate Sgt. Sean Collins will soon be honored through a mural at local Yelm business Longshot as the fundraiser to raise $6,900 in order to complete the project has been completed.
Wyatt Mendel, a backer of the Collins mural project who was previously involved in the organization and creation of the new Sgt. Justin Norton mural in Rainier, told the Nisqually Valley News on Monday, Aug. 25, that the goal of raising $6,900 had been reached.
Additionally, he said the artist Jeff Jacobson, also known as “Weirdo Cult,” could begin the mural as soon as the last week of September if the muralist is able to stay on his schedule.
“As of last night, we officially raised all of the funds we will need, with some extra. I reached out to one of the two owners of Longshot, Jason Pearson, who wrote a check to officially get us past the $6,900 threshold. He has been extremely supportive of us and was the official one to move us past the finish line,” Mendel wrote. “Jason Pearson was also part of the same unit as Sean, the 101st Airborne Division. So not only has he been incredibly supportive, but they were also in the same unit.”
Mendel added that all leftover funds raised past the $6,900 threshold will go toward establishing a memorial fund or foundation to once again give out scholarships in honor of Collins.
Collins served two initial deployments to Iraq after enlisting in the United States Army. In his third mission, this time to Afghanistan, Collins, who was a team leader with the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, and 101st Airborne Division, and five other servicemen died in a suicide attack at a military base on Dec. 12, 2010, in Kandahar.
