About Marley

We started The Marley Stainer Foundation to honor the memory of our beautiful daughter. On August 19, 2021, our lives were forever changed when we lost Marley to fentanyl poisoning. Nothing could have prepared us for such a loss and the hole left in our family can never be filled. But through the love, kindness, and amazing support from our community, we have found a way to keep her memory alive and feel her presence in our hearts. 

Marley was a vivacious and friendly child. She had a sparkle in her eyes that could light up a room. Her passion for her friends and family were loving and strong.  She was an active member of her community who deeply cared for the well being of others. She was in the Girl Scouts and learned a lot about her community through that. Marley had a deep connection with animals and volunteered with her local animal rescue, Green Dog Rescue. We had many happy moments like when we adopted our dog, Ziggy, who she adored. Not long after, she adopted a kitten, Milo, and he was her joy every day. She also was heavily involved in music and theater productions which became a huge part of her life..  Her lively, positive attitude spread throughout the program where she made lifelong friendships and a positive impact on her community.  She loved music with an appreciation of all types- especially her dad’s band.She loved photography and painting as well. She was an amazing human with many gifts to share with the world.

But being a teenager is not an easy thing to go through and for Marley it created much anxiety. You add in a pandemic where she lost her other grandpa and struggled with isolation. At that time, depression set in. She spent time in counseling and wanted to feel a sense of relief. She was always honest with us and would try to explain what she felt. After trying different prescriptions for anxiety and working through counseling, she was beginning to feel like this was just how life would be. She started looking elsewhere for relief and made a horrible mistake that shattered our world. There was no intention in this. She never wanted anyone to feel hurt or sad. We had warned her of taking medication that is not prescribed and that even if she thought it was safe, it wasn’t. We thought she was listening. This was all so confusing. She had no way of knowing that the pill was poisoned with fentanyl. She thought she could “trust” the pills from someone she knew. It ended her life at only 17 years of age.

As we struggled through our grief, we knew we wanted to prevent other families from feeling our pain. We needed to honor the joy and beauty of Marley’s short life. That is why we decided to create The Marley Stainer Foundation which raises funds to fight the fentanyl epidemic, to provide scholarships to teens who wish to pursue the arts that were such an important part of  Marley’s life, and to help her dream of rescuing animals come true.