MATTAWA — The Sven Legacy Foundation will hold a fundraiser silent auction Feb. 15 near Mattawa, complete with food, drinks, music and lots to bid on. 

The foundation was formed in November in memory of its namesake, Sven Leland, a Mattawa farmer who passed away last year. The purpose is to help students who aren’t planning to go to college have career options. 

“He was fighting brain cancer for years, and it really progressed at the end of 2023, and he passed in the end of April,” said Sven’s brother, Lars Leland, who’s one of the organizers of the foundation. “(His friends and I) always came out and took him to hospice, and trying to keep his hopes up. And we’d always ask him, ‘Is there anything you want to do in case things get bad?’ … He was like, ‘Yeah, make a nonprofit named after me and do scholarships for kids to go to trade schools.’ He couldn't move and couldn't walk, but he was still sharp and positive.” 

Only about 10% of adults and 7% of teenagers in the U.S. are interested in attending a trade school, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In Washington state, 36,082 non-degree-seeking students were enrolled at community and technical colleges in 2022-23, the latest year for which information was available, according to the Washington Student Achievement Council, a decrease of 44% from a decade earlier.

“Tons of kids apply for scholarships for academics,” said Josh Seanard, another of the foundation’s organizers and the president of the Mattawa-Desert Aire Lions Club, which offers a trade school scholarship. “But in the Lions Club, we have trouble getting any kids to apply for the trade school one. So, we really want to promote that.” 

“My younger brother thought there was all sorts of scholarships, but nothing for like the trades and crafts,” Leland said. “He was really big into woodworking and distilling. When he was fighting cancer he lost his mobility, but anything he could do with his hands, he always tried to keep occupied. And he just thought there weren’t enough scholarships for kids looking at those careers. There's a big need for that as we go on; not enough people are going to the blue-collar world.” 

The auction items haven’t been finalized yet, but they include fishing and hunting trips, baked goods and landscaping services.  

Food will be a homegrown affair, Seanard said.  

“One of the other board members (and his wife) wanted to put on a Mexican spread, so that’s what we’re doing” Seanard said. 

The auction will be held in a potato shed at Leland’s family farm east of Mattawa, Leland said. Eventually, the foundation would like to use the building as an event venue, and possibly also a center where young people could learn from local mechanics, plumbers and other skilled tradespeople. 

“But that’s still (down the road),” Leland said. “We’ve got aspirations, but we’re taking it slowly.” 

Sven Legacy Foundation Silent Auction 
5-10 p.m. Feb., 15
11582 Road 25 SW, Mattawa 

Info: Josh Seanard, 253-606-9506