Mike Kloosterman Foundation

On Tuesday, October 12, 2004, SEFA members and many non-member industry professionals were deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Michael (Mike) Kloosterman.   At the time of his passing Mike was the SEFA Chair and Director of Domestic Sales for The Durcon Company.  Mike was a great champion of our Association. He took an active role while serving on several committees.  It was clear that he was most passionate about his responsibilities as Membership Chair, having actively recruited new members even after moving on to his more challenging assignments as Vice Chair and Chair of SEFA.

To many of us Mike was like a brother, a cherished friend who could always bring out a smile.  During the November 2004 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, SEFA members donned specially-designed pins in Mike's honor.  There were numerous suggestions and discussions about how we would keep Mike's memory alive.  On November 18, 2004, Conference attendees unanimously approved the formation of THE MIKE KLOOSTERMAN FOUNDATION.   The purpose of this Foundation is to distribute Scholarship funds to eligible students interested in laboratory design and STEM education.

SEFA's Board of Directors approved a budget allocation of $5000.00 to begin the process of establishing the Foundation. Over the years, SEFA has organized several events to fund the Foundation.  In 2008 we changed our membership renewal invoice to include a simple request that members consider making a donation to The Mike Kloosterman Foundation, and the response has been extremely positive.

Below is a list of the Members who have supported The Mike Kloosterman Foundation by rounding up their dues payment for the period January 2020 to date: 

Thanks to the generous support of these SEFA Members, the Foundation made a contribution this year to Scientific Adventures for Girls (SAfG) in support of their afterschool STEM program at twenty (20) schools in the Oakland East Bay Area.

SAfG is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides after school and summer STEM programming to young children with a special focus on girls and underserved youth.  SAfG’s goals are to increase positive attitudes toward STEM in K-5^th grade female students, to increase hands-on learning opportunities and exploration of STEM concepts for girls and to encourage lifelong learning of STEM subjects.