Letter to the Editor: Help a Special Fund Help School Families

 Bake Sale Benefit this Saturday, Nov. 23 at Island Market:

The generosity of Orcas Islanders in helping their fellow islanders in times of trouble is legendary. We see it every day, and particularly in times of crisis. For many families with school-aged children, those crises happen without notice and without the ability to plan for them —  illness, transportation breakdowns, unemployment, emergency repairs – even lack of housing —  for examples.

Orcas Island School District has a program to deal with the challenges to students’ school success when these crises develop; it’s been called the Readiness to Learn Program, and has been a part of Orcas School’s K-12 program for 15 years.  At the school, and in outreach to other island students, Nancy O’Brien (who is also the elementary school counselor) works with students and their families to provide assistance when health, academic, social/emotional and basic needs present themselves; Julie Pinardi serves this role as Student-Family Advocate in the Middle/High Schools.

In turn, Nancy and Julie are helped in their work by a small, revolving fund called the Student Family Support Fund. This fund, now monitored by the non-profit Orcas Angels, is where they go to ask for $25 for gym shoes, or $80 for tutoring, or $200 for tires, or $50 for music or tai kwan do lessons, or $36 for asthma inhalers, or  Island Market food or Crescent Beach gas certificates. Sometimes we are asked to provide assistance with paying utility bills or rental assistance.

These are just a few of the examples of requests from the fund. We at the Orcas Island School Readiness to Learn program have found that by helping out our families in these small but meaningful ways, we can help them meet the other challenges, and form other helpful connections that help them get back on their feet and down the road.

We would be remiss not to mention the generous support the RTL program gets from community businesses and agencies in providing other benefits so that we can assist our young island students:

• Ray’s Pharmacy, which provides discounts for medical supplies
• Island Hardware, whose employees contribute to the purchase of warm winter jackets for elementary students
• Country Corner, which provides beverages for parent events
• Lions Club, which provides for healthy eyesight through exams and glasses
• Orcas Island Churches, which respond to calls for sizable emergency expenses
• Kiwanis Club, which provides scholarship funding for students to attend special events
• The Community Foundation, which provides funding for the weekend food packs program and for the elementary counselor
• Orcas Family Connections Resource Center, which helps arrange clothing, travel, medical, utility and insurance assistance
• Orcas Angels, a non-profit that provides a “home” for this fund, and monitors its accounting

However, the confidential, person-to-person ways in which we in the RTL program can offer financial assistance in small but responsive ways through the Student Family Support Fund provides direct relief that is so helpful to moving on to the bigger challenges that families must tackle.

In recent years, the Student Family Support Fund has been the recipient of generous funds from the Island Market receipt program, the Windermere Foundation, and from private donations. We’ve found that in recent years, we can fulfill requests for about $1,800 total over the year.

At this time the Readiness to Learn program finds the Student Family Support Fund at under $600. Our goal is to have a $1,000 balance at the close of each year.

We are asking the community to help fund the Student Family Support Fund with donations of any amount, paid by check to the Student Family Support Fund, c/o Readiness to Learn and mailed to 557 School Road, Eastsound WA 98245.

We are also asking you to drop by the Bake Sale table we’ll have at Island Market, next Saturday, Nov. 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. We’d love to tell you what we do, some of our families’ needs and “happy endings” and to have you buy a delicious pie, apple crisp, cookies, cakes or other baked items. (And if you could donate a baked item, please email mdoyle@orcas.k12.wa.us )

At this season of remembrance and thanksgiving, I am so grateful that I can ask the Orcas community to help Readiness to Learn at the Orcas School help our students and their families throughout the year with the Student Family Support Fund.

Please do consider making a contribution – any amount is greatly appreciated.

Margie Doyle/Orcas Island School District Readiness to Learn Program Coordinator