TULALIP — “Quality of life is the core of all our actions, and the Marysville community epitomizes that,” said Caldie Rogers, president and CEO of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce, as she introduced seven of the Chamber’s nonprofit members during the “Time of Giving” Business before Hours on Friday, Nov. 22.

Chavvahn Gade of the American Cancer Society touted its annual Relay For Life events in Marysville and Everett, as well as its annual Making Strides event in Everett, as helping to raise funds for programs ranging from wigs and prosthetics for cancer patients to its free ride and 24-hour hotline services.

“Relay takes place overnight because cancer doesn’t sleep, so for that night, neither will we,” Gade said. “It’s raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in Marysville alone.”

Marysville American Legion Post 178 2nd Vice Cmdr. Jennifer Smolen  welcomed the community to rent out the Post Hall and check out its recent renovations.

“We’re thrilled to be hosting the Chamber Board’s Christmas party,” Smolen said. “Every rental of our building helps support the Legion.”

Among the Legion’s local programs are ceremonies and gatherings for patriotic occasions such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day, as well as flag collection and retirement ceremonies on Sept. 11.

“We’ve partnered with the Marysville Naval Junior ROTC unit and adopted the 483rd Quartermaster unit at the Marysville Armed Forces Reserve Center,” Smolen said. “We also support Operation Comfort Warriors, which supplies aid packages to military members who are recovering from war wounds.”

Tania Siler of the Marysville Goodwill reported how their new youth aerospace program is taking students to visit Boeing and preparing them for manufacturing certification courses at Everett Community College, all while it gets its free tax preparation services ready to start shortly after the New Year.

With construction on the long-awaited Marysville Historical Society museum finally underway, MHS President Ken Cage explained his group’s motivation.

“We think there’s a value in preserving the history of a town, because a town becomes a hometown to you when you get a sense of it as a place,” Cage said. “People who live in a town benefit from knowing more about it as a place.”

Lt. Dawn Apuan of the Salvation Army Everett Corps noted that the group’s Marysville branch serves a weekly hot meal for those in need at the Legion Post Hall, while the Everett Corps is responsible for a cold weather shelter and two transitional housing programs. She urged community members to look for Salvation Army collection kettles starting on Nov. 30.

Kathie Roon, co-president of Soroptimist International of Marysville, credited her group’s fall auction and spring “Junktique” with generating funds to support programs on behalf of women and girls, 90 percent of which she estimated are reinvested in the Marysville community.

“We conduct the Student of the Month program with the Kiwanis, and last year raised $17,500 in scholarships for local students,” Roon said. “We also call attention to the problem of human sex trafficking, and present potential solutions.”

Robin Warren summarized the Marysville Community Food Bank’s achievements for the year as 1,199 families served, and a growth in the “Food for Thought” weekend meal program from 18 students at its outset to 227 just in the Nov. 22-25 weekend.

“Of course, the backbone of our group is our volunteers,” said Warren, who accounted for Marysville Community Food Bank Director Dell Deierling’s absence from the Business Before Hours because “he’s working there right now.”