Youth Engagement
Since its inception, the Semper Fi Community Task Force has had a very proactive Youth Mentoring program. Our members actively participate in mentoring, training, and service roles for local youth.
The Task Force specifically supports two Young Marines detachments in Huntsville and Madison. We provide funding support to each Detachment for training activities, equipment purchases, field trips, and the Marine Corps Birthday Ball events. We also provide service project opportunities for each Detachment during Heroes’ Week activities and at our annual Task Force meeting.
We recently began developing a new program within Youth Engagement that is designed to encourage local high school students to be proactive in their schools and throughout their community. Each year, we honor outstanding students at each participating school with the Robert “Bob” Marshall Memorial Volunteerism Scholarship and Award, recognizing their outreach achievements within the year. Please read below for more information on this fabulous new program.
Young Marines Visit with Heroes’ Week Guest –
Young Marines have an opportunity to speak with wounded veterans during Heroes’ Week activities, such as the Farewell Dinner (below). These unique opportunities to engage with Service Members from across the Country are only made possible by our generous sponsors and donors, as well as our many volunteers to work tirelessly to make Heroes’ Week a reality every year.
Check Presentation to the Young Marines 2021
Robert “Bob” Marshall Memorial Volunteerism Scholarship
The Bob Marshall Memorial Volunteerism Scholarship was established to honor our friend and a founding member of the Semper Fi Community Task Force, and his exceptional service to our Country and our local community. Awards are presented to high school students who have given their time and talents to aid the citizens of North Alabama to improve their community. The scholarship promotes the concept of giving back early in a person’s life, instilling a lifetime of volunteerism. It also serves as a catalyst to encourage other companies in North Alabama to support the spirit of volunteerism in the youth of our community and Nation.
Our goal is to expand the Bob Marshall Memorial Volunteerism Scholarship awards into every high school in Madison County and surrounding counties.
If you would like to contribute to the scholarship fund, please click the link below to donate online and view instructions to mail a donation by check. If donating online, please be sure to select the “Bob Marshall Memorial Scholarship” in the dropdown to ensure your donation is properly dispersed to the scholarship. If mailing a check, please add a similar notation on the memo line.
https://semperfictf.org/donate/ (select “Bob Marshall Memorial Scholarship”)
For questions, please contact Jennifer Holliday at jennifer.hollidaysfctf@gmail.com.
Left: Mike Dahl, Youth Engagement Lead, presents the Bob Marshall Memorial Volunteerism Scholarship and Award to three (3) outstanding JROTC Cadets from Sparkman High School in Huntsville, Alabama, 2020.
Above: Mike Dahl, Youth Engagement Lead, presents the Bob Marshall Memorial Volunteerism Scholarship and Award to four (4) outstanding JROTC Cadets from Sparkman High School in Huntsville, Alabama, 2021.
Matt Dahl Memorial Ball Field
The Matt Dahl Memorial Ball Field was dedicated at Legacy Elementary School in Monrovia, Alabama, on March 13, 2013, in the loving memory of Matthew Dahl, son of Marge and Mike Dahl. Matthew was killed by a hit-and-run driver on May 28, 2011, three days after his sixth birthday.
Matthew loved baseball!
Mike is a retired Marine and one of the founding members of the Semper Fi Community Task Force.
It has been the great honor of the Task Force to support the building of the Matt Dahl Ball Field, along with Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong and local businesses and organizations.
Under our Youth Engagement program, we continue to support the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the field. In this small way, we are able to help Mike and Marge share Matthew’s love of baseball with hundreds of school children, as well as youth baseball and softball teams year-round.
Legacy Elementary School dedicated a permanent bridge between the parking lot and the Matt Dahl Memorial Ball Field on Friday, May 13, 2016.
The bridge was an Eagle Scout project, sponsored by the Semper Fi Community Task Force.
Cayman Smith earned his Eagle Scout award by planning, fundraising, and getting County approval to build a long-term bridge on the school’s property to help increase accessibility to the ball field.
October 2020 – Mike and Marge Dahl along with several volunteers, installed new yellow fence guards at the Matt Dahl Memorial Ball Field, and along with an additional bench in each dig out for the whole team to sit on. The field is green and in use by several ball teams.
