In Memory of Matthew Bahlinger
Provided by Matthew's Family:
On the third installment of Matt’s Dinner, the Matthew Bahlinger Memorial Fund fed the entire Tiger Band and support staff during Band Camp on Friday, August 23, 2024. Through contributions from Texas Roadhouse and Walk-On’s, where Matthew had worked, and from Raising Cane’s, Coke United and Pepperidge Farm, we catered a delicious meal for the new Tiger Marching Band. We look forward to the fourth installment this August 2025.
The Matthew Bahlinger Memorial Fund was formed to raise awareness for the need for mental health services for Tiger Band and to aid in providing those services.
Our son, Matthew, loved being a part of Tiger Marching Band in the 2016 and 2017 football seasons. He was well-liked among his peers and was admired for his dry wit, unceasing friendships, and strong moral character. As an aspiring mechanical engineer, he dreamed of building projects that would help others, even if it was just one person. Throughout his life and despite his own inner struggles, he frequently made sacrifices in order to help his family and friends. However, he was the one who needed more help.
Matthew’s battle with depression started at the age of 16. He received treatment throughout high school, but he had a difficult time finding services at LSU. At the time of his death, he was getting counseling, but he lost his battle with depression in February of 2022 at the age of 24.
Out of this tragedy came our desire to create something that could have a positive mental health impact on the members of Tiger Band. We wanted to be a catalyst in providing the kinds of services that could make a difference in people’s lives. This led to the development of the Matthew Bahlinger Memorial Fund which has funded Matt’s Dinner during Band Camp, Matt’s Lunch on the day of Tigerama, and help provide a part-time counselor.
Due to the success of the part-time counselors for the last two years, we are pleased to announce that there will now be a full-time embedded counselor who will be available to help students in all LSU Department of Bands and the College of Music and Dramatic Arts and will be located in the CMDA building. This is the third such counselor on the LSU campus. We continue to sponsor the Tiger Band section leaders with QPR training which is a short seminar on how to recognize those struggling with mental health issues and refer them to the counselor. In addition, beginning Fall 2025, the faculty of the CMDA will receive similar training.
All of these accomplishments were made possible by the contributions to the Matthew Bahlinger Memorial Fund. Your donations, which are earmarked for the support for LSU Bands and CMDA, will enable us to continue to provide these needed services.
If you prefer to make your gift by check, make payable to: LSU Foundation
Notation Line: In Memory of Matthew Bahlinger
Send to: LSU Foundation
3796 Nicholson Dr.
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
The LSU Foundation will share notices about memorial gifts with Matthew’s family. We do not share the gift amount unless a donor explicitly gives us permission to do so.