The newly established Cranston High School West Alumni Association is up and running, and looking forward to their kickoff event coming up on Aug. 22.

The event, a gathering of any CHSW alum and any current parents of students at the school, will be held at The Thirsty Beaver that evening from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Fifteen percent of the total proceeds will be donated by the establishment to the Alumni Association.

The association was started by the first graduating class of Cranston West, the class of 1963, with a gift to the association as a means of lending support to the school. It has gained members quickly, with graduates hailing from many past classes.

David DiMaio, class of 1983, one of the facilitators of the group, has helped to get some of the logistics taken care of so that the organization can begin focusing on its main goal – supporting the community and students of Cranston West.

“We had our initial meeting and we’ve had subsequent meetings in which we’ve begun to set up bylaws and filled out the necessary paperwork for [nonprofit] status,” he said. “Two volunteers from within the community stepped forward to help out with the paperwork, attorney John Mancini and accountant Jason Bianci.”

Now that the paperwork and logistics have been ironed out, more recent alumni meetings have focused on the kickoff event and the upcoming Homecoming event at Cranston Stadium on Oct. 24.

DiMaio said currently, the group is using a third-party website – found at www.alumniclass.com/cranstonwest – to host its information, but the hope is to work in conjunction with the students at West in the near future to design and maintain a true alumni website.

“We really want to foster a relationship between the alumni in the group and the current students,” DiMaio said. “Our goal is to have a relationship with the students who are at West now, as well as the new graduates and with the Cranston community.”

Another of the group’s goals is the formation of a Hall of Fame event during which the group would induct athletes, business owners, administrators and any other deserving Cranston West alumni as time goes on. The group hopes to be able to start those inductions by 2015.

They also hope to host other events in addition to the summer Alumni Night at The Thirsty Beaver and the Homecoming. The owners of The Thirsty Beaver are West graduates themselves, and have donated the space in addition to the portion of the proceeds from the upcoming event and an alumni tent to be set up at Homecoming in the fall.

The group’s Facebook page has received almost 1,000 likes since its inception, with more coming each day.

DiMaio was pleased to see that representatives from each decade were present at a recent meeting, spanning from the 1960s to the 2010s. He’s also hopeful that the parents of current students will also begin to be involved.

“It’s beneficial for parents of the kids who are there now who are also alumni to be involved because we’re supporting the students and the school,” DiMaio said.

Currently, $1,000 has been donated to the organization, but they are looking for more funding in the future in order to be more financially supportive to the school as time goes on.

Anyone wishing to become involved can visit the website to register their personal information, and like the Facebook page to stay up to date on current events for the group. All alumni and current parents are welcome at the Aug. 22 event. There will be entertainment and a raffle.