Letter to Editor | Orcas Community Resource Center thanks Steve Jung

||| FROM MEGAN EHRMANTROUT for COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER |||

Steve Jung

With his time as a board member coming to a close, the words “thank you” are not nearly enough to express our gratitude for the many years of service Steve Jung has given to the Orcas Community Resource Center (OCRC) as well as several other island non-profit organizations. Little did the Orcas community know how fortunate it was when Steve moved here full time in 2010 with his wife, Susan McBain, after retiring as Executive Director of Internal Audit and Institutional Compliance at Stanford University and Stanford Medical Center. In true islander fashion, Steve and Susan jumped right in finding ways to become involved with our island non-profit organizations that contribute so much to making Orcas the place we know and love.

In 2015, as the Orcas Island Community Foundation (OICF) worked to help a relatively young OCRC (formerly known as Orcas Family Connections) assemble a Board of Directors with the aim to fill a void in critical social services for islanders, Steve volunteered. His role as part of the growth of OCRC’s vital community services had begun! In the 8 years since, Steve shared, “I have witnessed a truly remarkable transformation as OCRC is now the go to place for islanders in need of assistance.” Steve views his involvement with great personal satisfaction and considers it a significant part of his legacy of board service on Orcas.

Over his years on Orcas, Steve has also served on the board of directors at OICF, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival and the San Juan Preservation Trust. He has devoted time as a member of the Finance Committee at the Orcas Island Food Bank and worked with other island non-profits in non-governance roles, including the Orcas Senior Center and Orcas Door-to-Door. Steve was a Trustee of the original Board at Coffelt Farm Stewards and a member of the Vestry at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church. 

When asked about what volunteering does for him, Steve shared, “Maybe more important than the personal satisfaction I gain from seeing the growth of organizations, board service has allowed me to build lasting and treasured friendships. Clearly, life on Orcas Island would not be as sweet without this web of friendship.” 

Steve and Susan, as you embark on your next chapter with a move to an independent living community on the mainland, clearly life on Orcas will not quite be the same without the two of you. On behalf of the organizations and islanders whose lives you have touched, thank you for years of invaluable service. Wherever you land, may that community know how fortunate they are to receive you. Here’s wishing you health, happiness, and success throughout your next adventures!