GiveBIG Washington is a fundraising event that began on April 15 and culminates with a 48-hour public campaign on May 5 and 6.
Through GiveBIG, individuals, businesses and organizations come together to invest in healing our communities. Support nonprofits providing food, shelter, health, and social services; fighting for a more just world; expanding our horizons through art and learning; and many more valued missions.
GiveBIG Washington is organized by 501 Commons, a 501c3 charitable organization. This event is open to IRS tax-exempt organizations serving and headquartered in Washington State.
Through GiveBIG Washington nonprofits raise funds online and connect with new donors. In 2019, 20% of donors reported that they were making a first-time gift. 501 Commons, provides trainings, tools, and support so nonprofits of all sizes and missions are successful.
Because of GiveBIG nonprofits:
• Engage supporters who reach out to their network of friends, family, and colleagues through customized FUNdraising Campaigns.
• Double the impact of donor gifts through donor matching funds contributed by their most loyal supporters and employer matching gifts contributed by companies.
• Benefit from a $500,000 marketing campaign, largely created through in-kind donations from our marketing partners.
• Connect with people who want to volunteer.
The following San Juan County nonprofits are participating this year:
Center for Whale Research
Since 1976, the Center for Whale Research has been the leading organization studying the Southern Resident Killer Whales on the water in their critical habitat in the Salish Sea, performing health assessments to ensure the viability of the whale population, informing elected officials of their ecosystem needs, and sharing the whales’ story with the world. Our 44 years of research has created the only long-term data set about the behavior, health and social dynamics of the Southern Residents.
The Center for Whale Research has been the leading voice for the now gravely endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales (orcas) generating over 4 decades of scientific research and health assessments that have been used to inform agency decision-makers and elected officials about the whales’ ecosystem needs to ensure the viability of this playful, social, and beloved population. Our unique on-the-water research approach entails recording information through whale encounters that provides important social, demographic, health and geographic information. We provide this information to U.S. and Canadian government agencies annually for conservation and management purposes. We spend a considerable amount of time cataloging our photos, entering data, writing reports and peer-reviewed journal article, creating ID Guides and sharing our information with the public through our website, blog and Facebook page, and at numerous educational events. We collaborate with many partners including NOAA, WA Department of Fish & Wildlife, UC Davis’ SeaDoc Society, tribal governments, the University of Washington, Exeter University in the UK, Orca Network, Whale Museum and Canada’s Dept. of Fisheries & Oceans.
Our unprecedented long-term collection of data and photographs comprises the Orca Survey project. Our goal is to help this endangered population recover by keeping this research project going to continue monitoring the next generation of Southern Resident Killer Whales.
To donate to the Center for Whale Research, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/CenterForWhaleResearch.
Friends of Lime Kiln
Friends of Lime Kiln Society’s mission is to provide a unique experience for visitors through support & development of educational programs and activities related to Lime Kiln Point State Park’s extraordinary location, diverse ecosystems, and historic structures. We seek to inspire awe into action!
Help FOLKS help the park!
Most people arrive at Lime Kiln Point State Park hoping to see the whales or to enjoy the beautiful lighthouse and stunning sunsets. We hope many leave with a better understanding of the fragility of this delicately balanced ecosystem.
Every dollar or volunteer hour given will help continue the work of inspiring all of the park’s visitors!
To donate to Friends of Lime Kiln Society, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/FOLKS.
Friends of Lopez Island Pool
The mission of Friends of Lopez Island Pool is to bring greater health, water safety and community to the people of San Juan County by building and operating a sustainable, low maintenance, indoor Swim Center that will serve the community for generations to come. Our vision is to have a safe place for our children to learn to swim; for all ages to have an accessible pool for recreation, exercise and water therapy; and for San Juan County to have a healthier and more connected community.
Friends of Lopez Island Pool formed as a non-profit in 2008 with one purpose: to fund, construct and operate the Lopez Island Swim Center and provide accessible, cross-generational swimming opportunities that will increase the health and safety of Island residents and visitors. San Juan County is one of only two counties in Washington State without a community pool. Once built, the Lopez Swim Center will be the first and only community pool on Lopez Island and the only publicly accessible, year-round community pool in San Juan County.
There is a pressing need in San Juan County for water safety instruction, opportunities for indoor recreation, locations for water therapy, and spaces for water rescue training. For San Juan island communities surrounded by the rough and cold waters of the Salish Sea, there is a startling lack of access to opportunities for learning basic water safety.
Over the last 11 years, FLIP has built a tremendous amount of community support and garnered an impressive and diverse portfolio of resources devoted to the Lopez Island Swim Center Capital Campaign. The community, as well as local, county, and state officials, see the urgent need for better access to water safety within San Juan County. FLIP identified this unfulfilled need and has been working tirelessly to build a Swim Center to meet that need. As a direct result of this effort, residents of San Juan County will have greater access to water safety training, opportunities for indoor recreation, and a more connected and resilient community. A feasibility study interviewee and donor stated it well, “There are few moments when we can make an investment with the potential to transform a community. This pool is one of those rare moments. [The pool is] an asset that we’ll look back upon 20, 30, 50 years from now and realize the profound impact on generations.”
The year-round, indoor Swim Center will be open to all; its programs will serve the entire population of San Juan County and its visitors. Audiences will consist of youth, families, seniors, and all ages interested in fitness and fun. Additionally, FLIP will serve those in need of physical therapy, safety training, lifeguard training, and other water skills training, such as scuba and kayaking. Two important funds have been established by Board members: 1) a $100,000 scholarship fund to ensure all children, regardless of income, will have access to the swim center, and 2) a $500,.000 maintenance reserve fund.
There has been tremendous momentum over the past four years with $4.3 million raised towards the $8 million goal for this capital campaign. Please join us in this effort to enhance the health of this community! Thank you!
To donate to FLIP, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/FLIP.
Friends of the San Juans
Friends of the San Juans protect and restores the San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea for people and for nature. We are steadfast to our mission because we must assure healthy seas and natural shorelines to protect the Orca that need salmon, that need forage fish, that need natural beaches to survive and sustain a healthy ecology. And, because informed and thriving communities advocate protecting what they love, we will continue our science and research, our policy engagement and outreach. This work is as important now, as it was when we started in 1979.
With your help, Friends of the San Juans restores habitat, protects water, forests, farmlands and endangered species, while building thriving communities in the San Juan Islands through education, science, advocacy, and citizen engagement. Our work impacts the Salish Sea with innovative public-private partnerships, applied science, legal advocacy, and community-based initiatives to protect the land, water and sea for those of us here today and for future generations.
Some current projects include: advocating for the protection and recovery of Southern Resident Orcas, restoring forage fish and salmon habitat; protecting freshwater, wetlands, fish and wildlife through permit and policy review; educating and providing technical assistance for property owners and professionals about shoreline processes and development; engaging with concerned citizens, US Tribes and Canadian First Nations, government officials and non-profit organizations on strategies to protect our transboundary waters from oil spill risk, vessel traffic impacts; and promoting sustainable practices and clean, efficient energy options for our region.
Your support makes this critical work possible. Thank you!
To donate to Friends of the San Juans, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/friends-of-the-san-juans.
Lopez Children’s Center
Lopez Children’s Center an environment on Lopez Island that nurtures the healthy growth and development of young children and their families.
The Lopez Children’s Center is the only licensed early learning program on Lopez Island. Our Early Achievers 4 Star quality rated programs support a child-centered philosophy that accepts each child at their own developmental level, while encourages learning through direct experience. Discovery, creativity, and exploration occur in a safe, respectful, and stimulating environment, preparing the children for kindergarten and for life.
During these uncertain times, the Lopez Children’s Center has been supporting our children and families with, at-home activities, online circle times, and family check-ins. We hope to reopen soon and look forward to welcoming the children back to our classrooms, to bring stability back to their young lives and preparing them to enter kindergarten in the coming years. We know we will need to support families with scholarships, while we meet all our expenses with less than usual enrollment. Financial support from our community and beyond is essential to the continued operation and success of our center.
To donate, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/lopezchildrenscenter.
Lopez Island Family Resource Center
The Lopez Island Family Resource Center provides resources and guidance necessary to meet the basic needs of the entire community. Building on this foundation of well-being, we also provide educational and community engagement programs and we advocate for a more just and equitable community.
We envision the Lopez community as a family in which each person enjoys a positive, meaningful quality of life, knowing our own and our neighbors’ basic needs are being met.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, LIFRC staff and volunteers are being flexible, creative and working hard with many community partners and businesses to sustain our community with the supports they need in safe new ways: 1) Providing nourishment with food and prepared meal deliveries – while supporting the local economy with purchases from restaurants and farmers, 2) Providing financial assistance and other basic needs to households, and 3) Maintaining social connections and supporting emotional health.
LIFRC is purchasing $2,500 in food to nourish 150 vulnerable households and 420 individuals with 2 deliveries to each household every week. Your support assures that everyone in our community stays healthy!
To donate, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/lopez-island-family-resource-center.
Mullis Center
As you know, the Mullis Center is closed for regular services during this time of social distancing and stay-at-home directives, but staff and volunteers are still facilitating essential senior services such as foot care, general client assistance, case management and the production, coordination and delivery of Meals on Wheels.
Meals on Wheels and More is our nutrition program that provides community and delivered meals to seniors on a donation basis. During this time of social distancing our Community Meals have been discontinued and the demand for Delivered Meals has more than doubled, but due to financial hardships, donations are significantly down. As a result, the Senior Nutrition Program partners (Whatcom Council on Aging, San Juan County, and the Senior Centers on Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan) have been working hard and creatively to facilitate increased meal production and delivery and secure additional funding for this essential program. In the coming, days, weeks, and months we’ll be sharing ways in which you can help to support this program.
Both programs are a valuable resource to our most vulnerable population during this time and need community support. Thank you for your consideration. Stay well!
To donate to the Mullis Center visit https://www.givebigwa.org/mulliscenter.
San Juan Preservation Trust
Our mission is to:
• CONSERVE the natural beauty, vital ecosystems, and unique character of the San Juan Islands for future generations;
• CARE for the lands and waters under our protection, with our partners;
• CONNECT people to nature, to each other, and to the Preservation Trust.
COVID-19 reminds us that protecting wild island places is essential to our physical and emotional well-being now and into the future.
The San Juan Preservation Trust is a private, nonprofit, nationally accredited land trust dedicated to helping people and communities conserve land in the San Juan Islands of Washington State since 1979. The Preservation Trust has permanently protected more than 300 properties, 45 miles of shoreline, 27 miles of trails and 18,000 acres on 20 islands, including land now managed as public parks, nature preserves, wildlife habitat, and working farms and forests.
At this time, we applaud those island community services that are providing direct support to island residents adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Following is a link to a list of those resources: https://sjpt.org/how-are-you-doing/.
To donate to the San Juan Preservation Trust, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/sjpt.
San Juan Public Schools Foundation
The mission of the San Juan Public Schools Foundation is to advocate for educational excellence by raising funds and gathering resources and acting as a catalyst to involve the community in public education. The Foundation helps supplement state and federal funding to provide a quality education for our island’s children.
Our kids need your support – give a little to help weather this storm.
Our public schools are the ballast for our children in this age of uncertainty – they are providing educational support outside of the classroom, they are feeding students, and they give crucial emotional support for children and parents.
The COVID-19 pandemic is going to impact local and state budgets for our schools. We need your support to help to make sure students are secure and return to some sense of normalcy at the safe places they remember.
Right now, the programs children in our district depend on are threatened by larger class sizes and cuts to critical programs like art. “Give Big” or “Give A Little”…Your donation to the San Juan Public Schools Foundation will help the students, teachers, and administrators in our district weather the current crisis in the best way possible.
Thank you for making a gift today – one that will help children in our community thrive in the face of all the uncertainty ahead.
To donate to the San Juan Public Schools Foundation, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/sjpsf.
SeaDoc Society
The mission of the SeaDoc Society is to ensure the health of marine wildlife and their ecosystems through science and education. Our office is based on Orcas Island in the Salish Sea.
Founded in 2000, the SeaDoc Society conducts and sponsors vital scientific research in the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest, also known as the Salish Sea. This rich and vibrant ecosystem is home to 37 species of mammals, 172 species of birds, 253 species of fish, and more than 3,000 species of invertebrates. Nearly eight million people make this region their home today while billions of dollars are generated annually by Salish Sea commercial and recreational activities.
The SeaDoc Society conducts and sponsors ground-breaking marine research to uncover the environmental factors threatening to unravel the web of life in the Salish Sea and surrounding watersheds.
And while performing world-class research is of paramount importance, ensuring that our findings effect positive change is just as vital. We think of ourselves as arbiters of truth in matters of ocean health, and it’s a role we take seriously.
One of SeaDoc’s unique strengths is translating science into action. We act as a catalyst—bringing together interested parties to share information, forge common understandings and design region-wide solutions.
To donate to SeaDoc Society, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/index.php?section=organizations&action=newDonation_org&fwID=1453.
Senior Services of San Juan County
Senior Services Programs are offered under contract with Northwest Regional Council through the San Juan County Health and Community Services Department with significant support from the Senior Services Council of San Juan County, Inc., a Washington 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.
San Juan Island, Orcas Island, and Lopez Island each have their own Senior Centers, which serve as resource and information centers for all programs affecting those over age 60. The senior centers on all three islands serve hot lunches and ask a modest donation to cover the cost. Meals are also delivered to the homebound. The centers also provide a focus for organized social activities that provide opportunities for seniors to remain active in the community.
Our job at Senior Services of San Juan County is to assist seniors in remaining independent and in their own homes for as long as possible. We offer supportive services such as:
• Case Coordination
• Congregate Meals
• Family Caregiver Support
• Meals on Wheels
• Respite Care
• Senior Information and Assistance
• Transportation Assistance
We are also a resource to those under 60 who provide care or help to parents, older family members or neighbors. Volunteers are needed to help with many programs and with fundraising projects.
The goal of community-based supportive programs is to help seniors and adults with disabilities live in their homes and communities for as long as possible, postponing or eliminating the need for residential or institutional care. Community-based care is overwhelmingly preferred by consumers and caregivers of all ages. Senior Services will support family members interested in becoming at-home caregivers, however, sometimes outside caregivers need to be hired. If you are considering hiring an outside caregiver, refer to Hiring In-Home Workers for helpful information.
Our vision and mission is to focus on seniors, both young and old, by providing services and resources intended to:
• Enhance the experience of becoming an elder
• Facilitate participation in the life and affairs of the community
• Improve well being
• Promote and help sustain independence
• Remain socially integrated
Senior Services of San Juan County support and serve a complete spectrum of seniors, from those who are healthy and actively contributing to the community, to those who are frail and in need.
To donate to Senior Services of San Juan County, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/index.php?section=organizations&action=newDonation_org&fwID=2956.
The Whale Museum
The Whale Museum’s mission is to promote stewardship of whales and the Salish Sea ecosystem through education and research.
The Whale Museum first opened its doors to the public in July of 1979 and becoming the first US museum dedicated to a species living in the wild! Our focal species is the endangered population of killer whales known as the Southern Resident Community of Orcas. The museum’s 2-level exhibit hall is open daily, year-round. Education programming includes group tours & programs, lectures & presentations, artist & author events, overnight adventures for kids, interactive programming for school groups, and more. Located in Friday Harbor on San Juan island, The Whale Museum is a small museum with a big mission … and our activities extend well beyond our building’s walls. Other programs include the Soundwatch Boater Education Program, the Research Station at Lime Kiln Lighthouse, SeaSound Underwater Listening (streams live at http://seasound.org), San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Marine Mammal Sightings Database & Orca Master, and the Orca Adoption Program. When you Give Big to The Whale Museum, you Give Big to support our work to help the orcas and their ecosystem!
To donate to The Whale Museum, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/thewhalemuseum.
Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center
Since it was founded in 1982, Wolf Hollow has provided care for over 18,500 injured and orphaned wild animals, with the aim of releasing them back into the wild. Hummingbirds, swallows, woodpeckers, eagles, owls, herons, snakes, raccoons, deer and seals are just a few of the more than 200 species of wildlife that have been cared for at Wolf Hollow.
When an animal reaches Wolf Hollow it is carefully examined to determine what the problem is and what treatment is required. Some patients are relatively healthy youngsters who have been orphaned or separated from their parents. These animals need the correct diet and care until they are old enough and have the skills necessary to survive on their own.
Other patients are adult animals that are sick or have injuries such as a broken leg or wing, head trauma, or wounds. Many are very weak and thin and they are often suffering from severe infections. Their initial treatment may include medication, dressing wounds, or occasionally surgery.
All need good supportive care until they have fully recovered. Very young or badly injured animals may need care for several months, while others stay for only a few days. During their stay at Wolf Hollow, we try to prevent the animals from becoming habituated to people, because we want them to have the best chance of survival when they are released back to the wild.
When an animal has fully recovered or is old enough to care for itself, it is released back into its natural habitat.
To donate to Wolf Hollow, visit https://www.givebigwa.org/wolfhollowwildlife.
