By Michel Vekved
On Thursday afternoon, 24 much-needed and well-deserved awards were handed out by Orcas Island Community Foundation. It was a reflection of our community in more ways than one.
The donors recognized for their great generosity were in the company of people who work tirelessly for their cause. It’s a well-known fact that we have an ample supply of nonprofits, but there’s more to each than we might all be aware of. The staff and volunteers of these nonprofits are passionately striving for the organizational needs.
OPAL Community Land Trust received $4,000 to make energy upgrades to the donated Baker house. Lisa Byers shared 2010 census data that indicated nearly 41% of the residences on Orcas were unoccupied in April of 2010. This means that of the occupied residences, 5.6% are homes created by OPAL Community Land Trust or other nonprofit entities. She was followed by Rita Bailey who pointed out over 50% of elementary school kids receive free or reduced lunches, which highlighted the need for a weekend nutrition program for kids. The PTSA was awarded $5,000 for such a program.
Mary Giampietro brought smiles to the audience as she eagerly talked about Music Together a daily music program for the kids at Kaleidoscope which will be implemented in September with the OICF grant of $6,500.
To wrap up the ceremony were the Seniors from the class of 2011 who promised the continuation of great community support. They were given an anonymous donation of $5,000 to donate to a cause they determined. They took the task to heart, thought about their community and their own memories, and then allocated their funds to Hearts and Hands, Food Bank, Island Reproductive Health Initiative, and Friends of Moran State Park.
As much work as a non-profit organization does to write grants throughout the year and apply for project funding, the grant committee surely had its difficulties looking through the well-written, passionate and contemplative grant applications in making their selections. Working diligently at the awards ceremony were OICF Executive Director Hilary Canty and her assistant Kate Long, who pulled off a well organized and meaningful event.
A list of all award recipients can be found at www.oicf.us.
Michel Vekved serves as President of the Board of the Friends of Moran State Park.
