In hopes of helping salvage Tamina’s Sweet Rest Cemetery, The Woodlands-based Huntsman Corporation has pledged to donate $50,000 to the Tamina Cemetery Project and Community Development Corporation, founder Elijah Easley confirmed May 17.

The 12-acre cemetery was established in the 1870s and contains roughly 250 grave sites of former slaves, Native Americans, law enforcement officers and military veterans. Due to drainage issues, the cemetery is submerged under standing water and has lain dormant for more than a decade, according to Easley, which is what the Tamina Cemetery Project and CDC is working to rectify.

“Huntsman has been a force for building the present as well as investing in our future," said Peter R. Huntsman, Huntsman Corporation chairman, president and CEO. "However, with such recent affluence and modernization in Montgomery County, we run the risk of forgetting or paving over our rich heritage. In meeting with representatives of the Tamina Cemetery [Project] and Community [Development Corporation], I was struck with the diversity and the number of forgotten men and women that really were the fabric of what made Texas—and the United States in general—what we are today. It would be a tragedy if we were to neglect such a place.”

Easley said the donation will be contingent upon the nonprofit’s ability to raise $5,000 for the project. As of late May, Easley said the organization is roughly halfway there with $2,400.

“This funding will help us get the project started and will allow us to purchase the commercial sump pumps we need to redirect the water from the cemetery and begin excavation,” Easley said. “We have a lot of work to do but we can’t do it without the funding so we appreciate every contribution from $5 to $50,000.”

Easley said once the water is drained from the cemetery, the organization will be able to identify the grave sites and begin implementing flood mitigation and restoration efforts.

The Tamina Cemetery and CDC will host a fundraising event June 30 at the Tamina Park, located at 19500 Main Street, Conroe, beginning at 11 a.m. Attendees can enjoy a fish fry and barbecue, as well as live music, entertainment and local vendors. Admission to the event is free, however proceeds from food purchases will go toward raising the $5,000 needed to receive the $50,000 donation from the Huntsman Corporation. A portion of proceeds from items purchased from local vendors will also benefit the nonprofit.

For more information about the Tamina Cemetery Project and CDC, call 832-342-0404 or click here. Donations can be made online or by mail, to 4747 Research Forest Drive, Ste. 180, #189, The Woodlands.