As we enter the giving season, people nationwide will be looking to give back to the communities that have supported them. They’ll also look to ensure that their heartfelt giving – however they choose to give – will have the most influence. That’s why so many will choose their community foundation.
To the people of Blaine, Birch Bay and beyond: Thank you.
In 2015, the doors opened on the Blaine Pavilion, providing much-needed space for the boys and girls club, Blaine Senior Center and recreation programs.
Last year, the Farm to Freezer pilot project, which included Blaine Food Bank, processed, prepared and distributed nearly 42,000 quarts of delicious soups, stews and sauces made from fresh produce from local farmers who lost traditional markets (e.g. restaurants) during the pandemic. For some farmers, it was the difference between making it through the year or closing. The vision is to continue this creative program that supports local farmers and hunger relief beyond the pandemic.
And last July, Whatcom County leaders received a fiscal map of childcare services, undertaken to identify funding gaps and better understand how to create sustainable income streams that will expand the availability of affordable childcare in our county, which is considered a childcare desert.
These efforts, and dozens more like them, have three things in common: They address pressing needs in our community, involve a variety of committed partners and the Whatcom Community Foundation (WCF) played a key role in making them happen. Which is another way of saying, “local donors like you make progress possible.”
Projects like these demonstrate the importance, and the versatility, of community foundations, which are uniquely situated to improve their regions through supporting innovative solutions and creating powerful partnerships.
By the community, for the community
Community foundations are created through gifts from people and organizations who care about a particular place. There are more than 1,000 across the U.S. Anyone can contribute any amount of money to a community foundation, which builds and deploys assets – and more – to meet local needs and opportunities.
WCF is designed to create benefits for all. It’s like Whatcom County’s very own Swiss Army knife: Ready to help tackle our region’s biggest challenges and leverage its best opportunities with whatever tool makes the most sense. WCF is a connector, bringing together people, ideas and resources to make Whatcom County better for everyone. For example, WCF connects:
• Partners to action: In 2019, WCF convened multiple stakeholders for “Whatcom Counts” to ensure a complete 2020 census. In a year like no other, our county exceeded its 2010 response rate and helped Washington achieve the nation’s second highest response rate.
• Organizations to grants: Since March 2020, WCF made more than 100 grants to dozens of local nonprofits, totaling more than $2 million in response to the Covid-19 crisis, thanks to hundreds of donors to the WCF Resilience Fund. This included funds to support students in the Blaine school district through outdoor education and enrichment
activities.
• Donors to possibilities: The planned Birch Bay Vogt Community Library; an artist whose 5th grade art class changed her life and wanted other kids to have the same chance to explore and develop their talents; a family focused on improving mental health; high school students who want to protect Whatcom’s wild spaces and species. It’s up to you!
• Ideas to investments: The Garden of the Salish Sea environmental education program started in the Blaine school district. WCF helped connect the program to multiple types of resources, making it possible to expand to other districts and grow more stewards of our local waters.
• Neighbors to neighbors: Project Neighborly Grants fund ideas that help bring people together: Intergenerational pen pals on Lummi Island; YMCA’s Beyond the Bell program in Blaine; interpretive signs for Point Roberts community celebrating sites of community history; getting kids from across the county out on the water.
Through connections like these, the WCF has invested nearly $52 million toward Whatcom health, happiness and prosperity over the last 25 years. Last year alone, the foundation deployed $7.3 million toward making Whatcom County a place where everyone thrives. Our gratitude for the gifts, ideas and collaborations of the multitudes of community members who make this work possible is immeasurable.
WCF is just getting started; there are so many possibilities! Here are ways to join forces with your community foundation: Sign up for WCF’s THRIVE newsletter, follow on social media, give to a fund, establish a fund of your own or explore how to serve on a local board. It doesn’t matter how – when you connect with the WCF, you’re strengthening the ties that help Blaine, and all of Whatcom County prosper.
National Community Foundation Week runs November 12-18.
Mauri Ingram, president and CEO of Whatcom Community Foundation, and co-signed by Blaine mayor Bonnie Onyon
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