The 2010 Manu Sood Mountlake Terrace Arts Commission Scholarship has been awarded to Mountlake Terrace High School Senior Alex Herbig. The Endowment supports an annual scholarship targeted for arts students in the amount of $1,000.

Alex, who will be attending Seattle Pacific University in the fall, has contributed greatly to Mountlake Terrace High School as well as the local and worldwide community. For his senior project, Alex raised money to start a program for people in Haiti who were living at a garbage dump following the 7.0 earthquake. Alex chronicled this experience with a montage of photographs.

I do the things I do because I believe in them and I am passionate about it, Alex said. Awards and recognition are just a cherry on top. He added, The cherry is even more sweet when it helps pay for college. Going to a private school, any money coming in is much needed and appreciated.

We are very pleased to award the first annual scholarship to Alex in honor of Manu and in conjunction with the Arts Commission, said the Sood Family. Alex’s selflessness, work ethic, appreciation and talent in the field of art are all characteristics of what she was all about. We all know she is somewhere smiling and proud of Alex receiving this award.

Manu Sood, who passed away in 2009, cared deeply for family, friends and community. She became a member of the Mountlake Terrace Arts Commission, which complimented her passion for painting. Her husband, Vic Sood, serves on the city’s Planning Commission and her son, Nalin, teaches at Mountlake Terrace High School.

Donations to the Manu Sood Mountlake Terrace Arts Commission Scholarship can be sent to Mountlake Terrace High School, in care of Andi Nofziger-Meadows, at 21801 44th Avenue West, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043.