Foundation keeping girls’ memory alive

Born out of tragedy, a local charitable organization is making an impact in Sandusky and beyond. Michelle Wightman and Karrie Wieber, both 16, were killed in February 1989 when their car collided with a train at the Remington Avenue railroad crossing in Sandusky. In 1996 their parents started the Michelle Wightman-Karrie Wieber Charitable Foundation in their memory. Over the past 18 years the organization has distributed nearly $5 million to local initiatives benefiting Sandusky and Erie County, including the Sandusky Public Library, Firelands Regional Medical Center and a host of other charitable partners. President Gene Kidwell, was the principal of Sandusky High School at the time of Karrie’s and Michelle’s deaths. He says there likely isn’t an organization in Erie County that Wightman-Wieber has not touched. The foundation funds grants to support programs in the areas of safety, education, social welfare, family support and public charities. An emphasis is placed on programs that will improve railway crossing safety. The foundation provides funding for programs designed: • To meet community needs and/ or to expand existing programs • To create safe living environments • To enable families to develop the skills needed to support and nurture

• To provide resources to families in need • To foster the development of responsible, young people • To help people achieve potential • To assist other community resources with common goals. Memorializing Michelle’s and Karrie’s stories became part of their mission. And the ripple effects of their legacy drew the organization to open up its principal for the first time since their first distribution in 2000. “We’ve really just been a grassroots organization that’s just worked with 501c3s in the county without any splash,” Kidwell said. “When we established, we established with a $6 million gift.” Kidwell was proud to say after nearly 20 years they’ve been able to continue with all of their commitments and remain a $6 million organization. On Nov. 9, 2018, the organization announced a game-changing contribution to the City of Sandusky — a $500,000 grant in support of the Sandusky Bay Pathway Project. Kidwell stressed the organization felt the opportunity was a proper way to honor Karrie’s and Michelle’s legacy, with their names being remembered in perpetuity across a 0.7 mile-stretch of the Pathway. “We’re just so excited about what it provides potentially for the City of Sandusky and the surrounding area, and we just couldn’t help ourselves and to have an opportunity to perhaps provide some impetus for it to grow even quicker and to more detail than even we know about today,” Kidwell said. “In 1989 we began. And we came out of the darkness in 1996 when we incorporated as an organization and since 2000 we have distributed 5 percent a year,” Kidwell said. “So it is a great pleasure to be here today to announce this grant to the city for $500,000. “We do it because of the belief that we have that it is the absolute right thing for us to do and the legacy gift to remember and our mission,” he added. “One of our primary missions in this foundation is to perpetuate the memory of Michelle and Karrie. And there’s no better way in our mind to do that than to sponsor a program that heads the pathway from shoreline east to shoreline west and all in-between.” According to the city, the project is a 12-mile waterfront trail spanning from downtown Sandusky to Sheldon Marsh, which will connect to Cedar Point’s campus and the new Cedar Point Sports Center Project. The $24 million project currently in phase one will connect various city parks and piers, bringing with it the vision of a safer community. “They are an incredible community partner and their contributions have made Sandusky a better place,” said Sandusky City Manager Eric Wobser. “The grant to create a protected pathway for cyclists and pedestrians along our shoreline is in line with their goal of making a safer community, particularly for children and families.” Wobser said on Nov. 9 the project would touch every neighborhood in Sandusky creating a dedicated space for cyclists and pedestrians and depends on support from foundations such as Wightman-Wieber and called it one of the most generous gifts to the City of Sandusky. City Commissioner Dave Waddington agreed and called the Foundation a blessing to the community. “The Wightman-Wieber Charitable Foundation has blessed the Sandusky community for several years. They took a terrible tragedy and focused on safety and giving back to the community,” said Sandusky City Commissioner Dave Waddington. “With their moms forming this foundation the memories will always live on.”