Community Foundation | Celebrating collective impact

||| FROM LINDSAY JENNINGS for ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION |||

The Orcas Island community gave more than 5,000 donations to and through the Foundation last year, enabling more than $6 million in grants to local nonprofits. This tremendous generosity moved forward dozens of projects both big and small, from inspiring lasting community action to protect the Salish Sea, to ensuring preschool, art, music, sports, drivers education and more enriching activities are accessible to all island children, preserving historic buildings, strengthening Indigenous knowledge and relationships, supporting community health and the next generation of leaders, providing shelter during the winter months and so much more. 

The OICF 2025 Community Impact Report is now available, sharing more information about the many ways generous islanders have shown up for one another again and again. We are on track toward continuing this tradition in 2026, with your continued support and active participation.

As we approach Community Foundation Week, November 12 to 18, and National Philanthropy Day on November 15, we have a chance to celebrate the tradition of giving and the people and organizations carrying it forward. OICF is one of more than 980 community foundations across the country that bring donors and residents together to take on their communities’ most pressing challenges. Generosity is a value we share, and it belongs to everyone.

When people come together around what they share, they build trust that lasts long after any single project ends. It passes to the next generation, and the one after that. During Community Foundation Week, I hope you will join us in celebrating what this community has built together and in building what comes next. 

The Foundation is here to make giving easy and simple. Give online today, establish a charitable fund at OICF, or create a legacy plan for lasting impact.