High School Grants all $5,000 of its Community Foundation Funds to Orcas Family Connections

22 Community Non-profits Receive Awards from OICF and Partners in Philanthropy at June 3 Ceremony

Fostering philanthropy to enhance and preserve the quality of life on Orcas Island is the mission of the Orcas Island Community Foundation. At their Grants Award Ceremony on June 3, the quality of life from the youngest to the eldest was enhanced by $81,000 in grants awarded to 22 community non-profits.

The announcements were listed in the programs circulated at the event at the Orcas Center, but the one unannounced grant provided great surprise and drama, especially for the recipients.

Orcas Island High School students decide which community organizations will earn the $5,000 an anonymous philanthropist gives them to distribute. Teri Vinson, with Hannah North standing in for Jeannie Tran,  told the assembled guests at the Orcas Center, that the students’ decision was “full of debate, very, very loud at times.”

They decided to focus on non-profits that serve the environment, the needy, agriculture and education. Finally, they made the decision to give all $5,000 in one lump sum to Orcas Family Connections, the consortium of island preschools that operates under the non-profit organization of Orcas Daycare Association, the registered name for Kaleidoscope Childcare Center. A tearful Ethna Flanagan, volunteer Board President of Orcas Family Connections, accepted the funds, saying, “This is overwhelming; we have one paid staff, Erin O’Dell, who does everything. Five thousand dollars will go a long way to help Island families – so thank you!”

On the other end of the age spectrum, Betsey Louton, Volunteer Coordinator for Hearts and Hands service organization, thanked the Orcas Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) group for its support of her position. She described the way Hearts and Hands began its partnership with the Orcas Senior Center: “We would say yes, and figure it out later.”

In opening the awards ceremony, OICF President and Grants Chair Moana Kutsche noted that $20,000 in grants funding comes from earnings on the OICF Community Endowment, and said “The Partners in Philanthropy helped OICF reach out and do so much more.” She noted the remarkable growth of the Partners in Philanthropy, who started two years ago with just three members, and who now number 20 Partners. With their assistance in the amount of $61,000, the Community Foundation was able to award $81,000 to 22 non-profits this year. The grants committee also listed approved programs that they were unable to fully fund; the OICF invites the public to become a Partner in Philanthropy in supporting these requests, writing “Even partial funding goes a long way!”

OICF Trustee Coleen O’Brien, who will assume leadership of the Grants Committee next year, presented the awards with Grants Committee member Joe Babcock.

Kathy Wehle spoke for the LGBT community whose 18 members contributed $25,000 as OICF’s first group to set up a donor-advised fund.

Joe Cohen spoke for the Partners in Philanthropy program, saying the philanthropists are “partners in giving” with the help of OICF in determining which groups to donate to.

The Partners in Philanthropy are identified as:

• Anonymous (2)
• Rachel Adams
• Marilyn Anderson
• Michael Brennan
• Mary Clure (Orcas Island Realty)
• Joe Cohen, Martha Farish & Clayton Philbrick
• Cynthia & Sam Coleman Family Trust
• Cathy Faulkner
• Ann Graves
• Phyllis & Bob Henigson
• Hull Family Supporting Organization
• Robert Lundeen
• Masterman Family Fund
• The Olga Symphony
• Orcas LGBT Fund
• Joyce & Doug Pearson
• Wells Fargo Bank
• Wright Janeway Family Fund
• Judith and Ed Zimmerman

The 2010 Grant Awards announced June 3:

Children’s House

• $8,000 funded by Cohen, Farish & Philbrick and OICF
• Operating funds for Infant Toddler Center

Compass Health

• $4,600 funded by Orcas LGBT Fund and OICF
• Chemical dependency treatment program on Orcas

Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services

• $5,590 funded by Zimmerman and OICF
• Women’s ESL classes

Farm to Cafeteria—OISD/OIEF

• $7,000 funded by Anderson, Anonymous and Cohen, Farish & Philbrick
• Program to incorporate locally-produced foods into school curriculum and food service

F.E.A.S.T. Program—OIEF

• $5,000 funded by Cohen, Farish & Philbrick
• Summer education program on sustainability and stewardship

Food Bank

• $3,500 funded by Anonymous and OICF
• Provide dairy and eggs for monthly distribution

Healing Arts Center

• $1,000 funded by OICF
• Roof replacement

Hearts and Hands

• $2,500 funded by Orcas LGBT Fund
• Support volunteer coordinator salary

Islands’ Oil Spill Association

• $1,200 funded by OICF
• Spill responder class and field training on Orcas

Kaleidoscope

• $5,000 funded by OICF
• Part-time financial manager

Kwiaht

• $4,100 funded by OICF
• After school science research club

Long Live The Kings

• $3,300 funded by Cohen, Farish & Philbrick
• Replace salmon egg incubator trays

OPAL Community Land Trust

• $2,500 funded by OICF
• Support for Wild Rose Meadow neighborhood phase 2

Orcas Family Connections

• $2,008 funded by Orcas LGBT Fund and The Olga Symphony
• Family advocate to support families with children 0-5

Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival and Music Advocacy Group

• $1,500 funded for 2010 by Masterman and OICF
• Final year of three-year grant for preschool music program

Orcas Island Historical Museum

• $4,500 funded by Anonymous and OICF
• Support for Smithsonian Journey Stories exhibit

Orcas Island School District– 4th Grade

• $579 funded by Pearsons
• Matching funds for Geology in the Classroom science module

Orcas Island School District– 8th Grade

• $1,200 funded by Clure and Pearsons
• Robotics kits for science program

Orcas Montessori School

• $6,400 funded by Anonymous and OICF
• Operating funds

Primary Intervention Program—OISD

• $3,500 funded by OICF
• Coordinator salary for play therapy program to help at-risk children

Sail Orcas

• $2,400 funded by OICF
• Purchase of new class of boat to expand program

San Juan Nature Institute

• $2,200 funded by Adams and OICF
• Enhancing Teaching Botany multidisciplinary teacher training

Youth Grants — $5,000 funded by Anonymous

• Orcas Family Connections

In closing, OICF Executive Director Hilary Canty thanked the community who have all worked to continue the growth of the foundation, first started 15 years ago.

Grant Committee Members were Rachel Adams, Joe Babcock, Betty Corbett, Whitney Hartzell, Paul Kamin, Moana Kutsche, Bob Maynard, Coleen O’Brien, Ann Snelson, Dimitri Stankevich, Bea vonTobel, and Robin Woodward.