Marion nonprofit brings festive decoration ashore

MARION — Christmas trees made of repurposed, painted buoys are a common holiday sight around New England. 

When Deming Dwyer, Taylor Karvonen and Morgan Karvonen — all juniors at Tabor Academy — noticed them last year, they had an idea.

During a dinner together the trio had discussed starting a nonprofit, and they decided to pair the festive buoy tradition with a goal to help neighbors in need.

Marion Buoys of Hope, founded by the three friends, raises funds for people who experience homelessness by “selling” buoys to add to a buoy tree outside the Marion Music Hall at 164 Front St.

Dwyer’s brother helped them source used buoys for their initiative, and the raised funds will go to Damian’s Food Pantry in Wareham. They said they chose the pantry because of the significant aid it offers the area’s homeless population.

“This was the pantry that we knew the most about, and that serves the majority of the unsheltered population in this area, so we thought this would be the best option for us so it could get our donations out to more people,” Dwyer said.

She said they have built a relationship with Damien’s through volunteering at the pantry in years past. The trio plans to use part of the funds they have raised to purchase winter wear and food items to donate to the pantry, and will donate the rest of their funds for the pantry to use as needed.

They aim to raise $10,000 for the pantry by the end of the year, and said they have reached 96% of their goal so far.

“We are pretty positive that we're going to reach it through more donations,” Taylor Karvonen said.the community around us, has said so many nice things and have been  really supportive of it,” Along with word-of-mouth and posts on social media, the three girls have also relied on Marion businesses to spread the word about their nonprofit. 

Donors could buy a blank buoy to decorate themselves for $25, or a pre-painted one for $50. The organization’s founders hosted painting events for volunteers and donors to decorate the buoys, including during Old Rochester Regional High School’s day of giving in November. 

They said the community has been supportive of their efforts, and saw residents of the town “come together” in support of the nonprofit by publicizing it, donating and taking photos with the tree.

The group said they were happy with their fundraising efforts this year, and plan to increase their goal to $15,000 for 2026.

“I think everyone in the community has just been very excited for a new thing to start in Marion, and I feel like that was a very good way for our community to come together and be very supportive towards this nonprofit,” Morgan Karvonen said.

“I think we learned a lot through this process, and we're really excited to start it up again next year,” Dwyer added.