||| FROM AYN GAILEY for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS |||
Friends of the San Juans has joined this year’s OICF GiveOrcas campaign with a project designed to spark wonder, deepen local knowledge, protect the Salish Sea, and empower the next generation of Salish Sea stewards. We’re honored to stand alongside several beloved island nonprofits in this year’s campaign—organizations we’ve collaborated with and are cheering for as they raise funds for their own vital projects—and we’re asking our community to help us bring an extraordinary new education tool to Orcas classrooms, events, and public spaces: the Salish Sea Dome Experience.
The inflatable dome looks like a planetarium, but instead of stars, students step inside and are immersed underwater. They can swim with local salmon, wander through a kelp forest, and drift alongside herring. The 360° footage, filmed by Friends’ staff, was previously available only through virtual-reality headsets for those ages 13 and up. The dome changes everything. It’s ADA accessible, designed for all ages and abilities, and available to an entire classroom, or groups of up to 16, all at once.
This year’s GiveOrcas campaign will make it possible to share the dome with Orcas Island Schools, community venues, and more—and to edit a new educational module featuring Indigenous leader Chenoa Egawa on water protection. At a time when state and federal funding are at risk, community support is what keeps programs like this alive.
Gifts of every size move this work forward:
• $20 provides printed materials for an Orcas classroom to accompany the Dome Experience
• $100 brings the Dome Experience to a single classroom
• $300 brings the Dome to an entire grade level
• $1,000 brings the Dome to all students at one Orcas Island School
• $3,000 funds video editing for our new Salish Sea stewardship module
Friends of the San Juans has served the islands for nearly half a century with one core belief: Loving this place is not enough. We must protect it, too. Our mission to bring people and nature together through education, science, policy, and law depends on community partners and neighbors who share that commitment.
To support the Salish Sea Dome project during GiveOrcas, donate here:
https://oicf.fcsuite.com/erp/
Together, let’s protect this place—and double our impact.
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