A dinner and live auction are taking place Friday evening in Arlington to raise money for an Oso landslide memorial park.
The dinner will be from 5-9 p.m. at Rhodes River Ranch in Arlington. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the door.
Items up for bid include gift baskets, vacation packages, gift cards, signed Seahawks gear and a special hand-made quilt. The quilt was created by a local woman and made using t-shirts from some of the first responders who helped after the landslide. There are also 43 hearts stitched into it representing the 43 adults and children who died.
On March 22, 2014, a saturated hillside buckled, sending mud and debris into Oso's Steelhead Haven neighborhood. The earth spilled out onto SR 530 as well. 49 structures were destroyed and 43 people died, making the Oso landslide the deadliest in the country's history.
Related | Oso landslide memorial park announced
Friday's fundraiser comes a few months after the fourth anniversary of the tragedy. All the money raised will be going toward the planning and building of a permanent memorial at the site of the slide.
Amy Lucas is on the SR 530 Mudslide Memorial planning team. She said that they're looking to raise $300,000 - $500,000 as soon as possible to have a groundbreaking by next March for the slide's fifth anniversary.
The Snohomish County website says it will likely take $6-7 million to complete the memorial. According to that website, funding is needed to complete the necessary studies, civil design and engineering, construction and installation.
To learn more about the slide memorial, visit the project's website.
