Surrounding communities have rallied behind the events scheduled for today that will honor the memory of Stina Leiseth.

Leiseth, a Yellow Medicine East student, died Nov. 26, 2008 from an automobile accident on the way to basketball practice.

Leiseth had been a standout athlete in volleyball, basketball and track in additon to having a strong sense of faith.

"We wanted to do something as a way of healing," said Mitchell McKay, who is the President of the Stina Leiseth Memorial Foundation. "We wanted to try to make something positive out of the situation. I told her parents that I wanted to do something for them."

After meeting in April with Leiseth's parents, Rich and Becky Leiseth, McKay initiated steps toward the First Annual "Stina's Strength" Volleyball event and Fundraiser to be held at YME's Espeland Gymnasium in Granite Falls.

"We have a committee of 14 members," said McKay. "It's mostly the parents of Stina's teammates. The girls that played on the team with Stina are still mourning. It's been difficult for a lot of them. Many of their parents are on the committee so we're able to get a response from the girls, too."

McKay's own daughter, Macy, was a teammate of Leiseth's, so the loss hit pretty close to home.

"We were all shocked when Stina died," said Mitchell McKay. "I have three girls. You never know when that day will come."

Stina Leiseth left behind a brother, Anton Leiseth, who graduated in May of 2009.

"Everyone wants to keep Stina's memory alive," Mitchell McKay said. "Her parents haven't been to a girls game since then - only Anton's games - so it will be hard. We just hope it's a positive and uplifting experience for them."

When the 2009 volleyball season rolled around, Stina Leiseth's teammates never lost sight of the impact she had made on them. In memory of their lost friend and teammate, the entire team wore bright pink T-shirts with Stina Leiseth's favorite motto, "Never, Never Quit," and her jersey No. 1 printed on them.

The committee put together a full schedule of events including a silent auction, music, food and a motivational speaker. The doors open at 4:30 p.m. with Carl's Bakery barbecues, Jimmy's Pizza, taco-in-a-bag and Cold Stone Ice Cream available.

But the highlight of the night will be the competitive volleyball match slated for 7 p.m. between area senior players representing the West Central South Conference and the Camden Conference.

"We've had very good community support," McKay said. "We have 17 teams represented. We wanted to get everyone involved and get a lot of people there. Our outlook is to set it up so that it can not only be an honor to play, but that it will also be good competitive volleyball."

Aimee Johnson, Sami Cross, Ashley Soderstrom and Rachel Pederson will be in attendance for YME. Along with the four Sting players, 16 other seniors will be part of the West Central South team.

"They're all aware of what happened to Stina," said Mitchell McKay. "We were in contact with coaches and the committee made the decisions. We tried to get two senior volleyball players from each school. Then we personally invited every player."

On the 15-player Camden Conference team will be Minneota's Leah Fadness and Sam Hennen, Canby's Kate Oellien, Brittany Kockelman and Ashley Johnson, Lakeview's Kayla Golberg and Trisha Rykhus and Dawson-Boyd's Kristen Lee and Lauren Demers.

"We went with coaches with ties to YME," Mitchell McKay said. "YME's Tasha Feldman and Benson's Erick Hedman will coach the West Central team and Minneota's Steph Hennen and MACCRAY's Terese Bourne are coaches for the Camden team."

The competition will consist of five sets. Renowned speaker and former NFL player, Keith Elias, will also give a motivational message to the audience.

"We've got a motivational speaker that played for the New York Giants," said Mitchell McKay. "He'll speak between the second and third game. He'll be excellent to listen to. We're expecting a big turnout."

In addition to the volleyball match, players will take part in other short competitions.

"We have a guy bringing in a radar gun so we can award the hardest kill," said Mitchell McKay. "Then, we have a contest for serving accuracy. It's something different."

While the goal of the event is to raise scholarship money for area seniors and to donate to Stina Leiseth's favorite charities, it's more about just getting together to remember the outstanding person Stina Leiseth was.

"Stina's faith was very important to her," said Mitchell McKay. "That's how the name of the event was drawn up. That's what we're basing it on. The capacity of the gym is 1,200 and we'd love to fill it. It's about keeping Stina's memory alive."