MARINA >> Erica Graham’s love and dedication extends much further than her own family. At 46 years old, she has become a cornerstone of the Marina community, while also furthering her education at Cal State Monterey Bay and running a business with her husband.

Her contributions to the community have earned her the Herald Hero award, given to the person among many who local citizens nominated as “unsung heroes.”

“I’m pretty surprised,” she said. “I saw some other really great people in our communities, some other great leaders. So it’s so exciting that I was chosen.”

In addition to the title, Graham will be awarded $500, which she plans to put right back into the community.

“We have lots of stuff coming up the pipe that we need funding for with the (Marina) high school stadium almost done. There’s a lot of stuff that I’m hoping to do,” she said.

Graham, a mother of eight, has been involved with the high school since a bit before her oldest son started attending in 2014, and has watched the school, which opened in 2006, transform.

“Back then, it was still very much an elementary school with a lot of elementary school components … The fields were just bumpy dirt lots and it used to kind of be Marina High’s thing. Like if they can survive playing on those fields, they can play anywhere.

“We were very resilient. We’ve always been very resilient at Marina High School,” she said.

As the stadium nears completion, she said teams are working hard to get the snack bar and bathrooms installed as quickly as possible. She is excited for what it means for both the high schoolers and the surrounding community.

“It’s just going to be huge for our community. It’s a gathering place,” Graham said. “People don’t realize that youth sports is not just about the youth. It really does build on the community. You get the kids that come out, their parents, their grandparents come to watch and support.”

Graham formally ran the Parent Teacher Student Association at Marina High, but there is a limit on how long someone can serve. Currently, she runs the Booster Club that supports the school’s sports programs.

“I’m looking to start another nonprofit, that’s the support group for everything not athletics,” she said. “College visits, all of that will fall under this organization … It just takes a little like startup funding to get all the paperwork filled out and processed and whatnot.”

Additionally, she mentioned the school is working on filling out a new snack bar that will come soon after the stadium opens and working on “all those small projects that add up to be a lot.”

Graham has always been a hard worker. She graduated high school early at 16 and jumped straight into working at the grocery store, which eventually got her into the restaurant business.

She started as a bagger at the grocery store, but worked up to management and did something similar when working in restaurants.

“I’ve worked quite a bit in the area and tried to gain as many skills as I could. I love a good challenge,” she said. “I’ve kind of ventured out and tried to do as much as I could. I’ve worked in some construction, I’ve worked in the retail industry, I’ve tried to do it all.”

In 2012, she and her husband, a seaweed biologist at San Jose State, started their own seaweed business to supply restaurants based in Moss Landing.

“We had a crazy project that kind of also involved the high school back then because there’s an invasive species that’s out in the harbor. So we were trying to clean up and eradicate that invasive species and also get it into the culinary program and get these kids cooking it because it’s actually a seaweed that a lot of people eat,” she explained. “It’s the largest seaweed company in the United States.”

Between balancing a family life, volunteering and her business, Graham is also entering her final year at Cal State Monterey Bay, where she is studying business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship. She’s on the Dean’s List.

Graham said her older kids have established themselves all over. Her eldest son and his wife are in the military living in Nebraska and her youngest adult son is living locally working at the seaweed farm. Graham has daughters are living in Arizona and Southern California and her youngest daughter started college last year and will likely be moving to Sacramento or somewhere in Washington for a degree in mortuary science.

“It gives us a little bit of opportunity to travel out and see them,” she said. “They’re very excited and very established in what they’re doing, so I think for the most part, we just get to look forward to seeing them on holidays and breaks and going to see them where they’re at. They’re well on their way to just be productive, active adults.”

With term limits in place for the PTSA and Graham’s kids working their way through school, Graham and her husband have begun to pass the leadership torch.

“My husband and I ran the baseball program for many years. We ran the soccer program here in Marina, and then we got to pass that off to amazing groups of people,” she said. “We’ve been able to come back into some of these programs now that we have our little guys playing and we’ve been able to enjoy it as coaches and parents.

“It’s been a lot of fun reestablishing that environment where we can coach and we can have these little groups of family friends and that sort of thing. We’re trying to enjoy that part.”

Graham has continued to work to get kids — not just her own — involved with volunteering.

“Volunteerism is really tough to rally. We’re trying to get the kids to see the value of volunteering in the community and we’re trying to build in opportunities for them,” she said.

Graham said a lot of kids have realized volunteering is fun and love volunteering at events in the area. Alumni have even returned to help volunteer with football games, firework booths and events that help get the school donations.

“We’re trying to help the kids see that that’s valuable. Many of them do come back and volunteer for us. It’s great for us to see because it means it is making the impact that we’re hoping for.”

Graham hopes to see more parents involved as well.

“We’re hoping more (parents) come and respond to that ask for help. … It builds the activities and the leagues and the programs. … It’s only whatever we put into it,” she said.

Within the next five or so years, Graham is also interested in getting into education. She said she is looking into doing something that works in her business degree and potentially a Career and Technical Education program or something at the high school level.

She said they are also in the process of building their second seaweed farm in Cayucas.

“That’s probably going to be another big boom in our life that’s going to have another big jump of activity and time consumption,” she said. “I’m not too sure where that’s going to be in five years, but I’m pretty sure if it does anything like our current seaweed farm, we’re going to be busy.”

After finishing her own schooling and getting all her kids through school, Graham is looking into traveling more.

“I want to continue to explore the big world. So once they’re all done and they’re all set, traveling is definitely on our list. We want to make sure we just keep moving and explore as much as we can until we can’t, until our bodies tell us that it’s time to relax and settle down.”

While Graham wants to travel the world, she plans to keep her permanent residence in Marina.

“I don’t think we can ever leave this area because it really does kind of hold our hearts. We’re really vested in the community and seeing the growth and the change, especially with what’s happening in our parks in the area, the new communities coming in.”

Graham hopes to see more people look into the community, find something within it that makes them happy and put a couple hours into volunteering.

“There’s always a need for somebody to lend a hand,” Graham said. “Of course, we all just do a small part of it, it really does make such a big difference in our communities and in people’s lives. Everyone needs a little help every now and then.”

Editor’s note: Nominations for the Herald Hero came from the community. The winner was selected by Staff Writer Arianna Nalbach, Managing Editor David Kellogg and community members Carol McKibben and Lewis Leader.