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The Michael W. Hoke Foundation for Excellence in Science Education, created to honor the legacy and continue the work of the beloved local educator, will hold its inaugural fundraising gala July 23.

The gala, to be held at Lamar State College Orange Shahan Events Center, will begin at 5 p.m. and will include speakers, dinner from local favorite Old Orange Café and Catering, and a silent auction.

Tickets are on sale via mwh-foundation.org/events-1.

The MWH Foundation’s goal is to support science and environmental education in Texas, and initial funds will be used to endow scholarship(s) for students pursuing a career in science or environmental education at Hoke’s alma mater, Lamar University.

After teaching middle school and high school science in West Orange-Cove Consolidated ISD for 31 years, Michael Hoke was named the first managing director of Shangri La Botanical Gardens in Orange.

In that post, Hoke continued to champion science and nature education as well as environmental preservation.

After his death in 2016, his family endowed a small scholarship at Lamar University, and the MWH Foundation seeks to add to that initial endowment and provide additional support for deserving students.

“This has been a labor of love and a long time coming,” said Robert W. Hoke, president of the MWH Foundation.

Robert Hoke has encouraged former students of Michael Hoke to “Please share on the Foundation’s social media any pictures you have from Bios, Science Superstars, or any one of the numerous educational ventures that Mr. Hoke created.”

For more information, visit mwh-foundation.org, email robert@mwh-foundation.org or find MWHFoundation on Facebook.