Jackie Groendyk is fundraising
Mark Groendyk Memorial Scholarship
Mark Groendyk wanted to change the world:
To teach the existence of miracles in everyday life, feed the hungry, house the homeless and create a more sustainable planet. And he did just that. The 27-year-old civil engineer helped shelter and feed earthquake victims in Nepal, built the Toki music school from recycled materials on Easter Island and built a community center in Tempelhof, Germany, to name just a few of his projects. Family and friends say Mark always put others first, always wanting to do the right thing. That was true right up to the final moment of his life. He was celebrating the launch of a new project in Texas when he was stabbed to death in August of 2016 by an intoxicated stranger, he tried to prevent from getting behind the wheel of a car.
To those who knew him, Mark was a shooting star whose life ended before his promise and potential could be fulfilled. “He burned with intensity. Integrity was a driving force in his life. He was all about patience, kindness, tranquility and fearlessness” said Sean Downey, a lifelong friend and history teacher at Bloomfield High School.
A lifelong Bloomfield resident, a 2008 graduate of Bloomfield High, an Eagle Scout in Troop 23 - Bloomfield, Mark went on to Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, graduating in 2012 with a BS in Civil Engineering. After college, he dedicated his life to working on sustainable building projects in communities around the world through Earthship Biotecture-USA and Earthship Biotecture-Europe, creating structures with recyclable materials. He was also part of a team that launched the Neo Evolutionary Logic Project (NEvLo).
Mark was an avid skateboarder, slackliner, rock climber and devoted to Acro Yoga. He was known for his ability to stretch normal physical limitations, seeming to defy gravity and confound the boundaries of time, space and light.
To honor the memory of this extraordinary young man, his family and friends have established the Mark Groendyk Memorial Scholarship. The first scholarships were available to the BHS class of 2017 and in each year since. The family hopes to raise funds to support two $500 scholarships annually for students who embody Mark’s passion for environmental stewardship.
Tax-deductible contributions can be made via:
GoFundMe fundraising or by sending a check payable to the Mark Groendyk Memorial Scholarship to the attention of:
Jackie Groendyk, 74 Golf Road. Bloomfield, NJ. 07003
The Mark Groendyk Memorial Scholarship is a recognized 501(c) non-profit fund under the Bloomfield High School Home and School Association.
More about Earthship Biotecture and its projects can be found on the organization’s website. Information on the NEvLo project is also online.
To teach the existence of miracles in everyday life, feed the hungry, house the homeless and create a more sustainable planet. And he did just that. The 27-year-old civil engineer helped shelter and feed earthquake victims in Nepal, built the Toki music school from recycled materials on Easter Island and built a community center in Tempelhof, Germany, to name just a few of his projects. Family and friends say Mark always put others first, always wanting to do the right thing. That was true right up to the final moment of his life. He was celebrating the launch of a new project in Texas when he was stabbed to death in August of 2016 by an intoxicated stranger, he tried to prevent from getting behind the wheel of a car.
To those who knew him, Mark was a shooting star whose life ended before his promise and potential could be fulfilled. “He burned with intensity. Integrity was a driving force in his life. He was all about patience, kindness, tranquility and fearlessness” said Sean Downey, a lifelong friend and history teacher at Bloomfield High School.
A lifelong Bloomfield resident, a 2008 graduate of Bloomfield High, an Eagle Scout in Troop 23 - Bloomfield, Mark went on to Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, graduating in 2012 with a BS in Civil Engineering. After college, he dedicated his life to working on sustainable building projects in communities around the world through Earthship Biotecture-USA and Earthship Biotecture-Europe, creating structures with recyclable materials. He was also part of a team that launched the Neo Evolutionary Logic Project (NEvLo).
Mark was an avid skateboarder, slackliner, rock climber and devoted to Acro Yoga. He was known for his ability to stretch normal physical limitations, seeming to defy gravity and confound the boundaries of time, space and light.
To honor the memory of this extraordinary young man, his family and friends have established the Mark Groendyk Memorial Scholarship. The first scholarships were available to the BHS class of 2017 and in each year since. The family hopes to raise funds to support two $500 scholarships annually for students who embody Mark’s passion for environmental stewardship.
Tax-deductible contributions can be made via:
GoFundMe fundraising or by sending a check payable to the Mark Groendyk Memorial Scholarship to the attention of:
Jackie Groendyk, 74 Golf Road. Bloomfield, NJ. 07003
The Mark Groendyk Memorial Scholarship is a recognized 501(c) non-profit fund under the Bloomfield High School Home and School Association.
More about Earthship Biotecture and its projects can be found on the organization’s website. Information on the NEvLo project is also online.
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