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Food drive successful
Community Food Drive.jpgFrom l-r KPUG’s Mark Scholten, KAFE’s Dave Walker, KGMI’s Amanda Hostetler, and KISM’s Lori Michaels look on from their temporary jail cell outside the Barkley Village Haggen. Industrial Credit Union (ICU) in partnership with Haggen, Inc. and Cascade Radio Group shattered all previous Whatcom County community food drive records. The 11th Annual Community Food Drive, held in late October, gathered over 150,000 pounds of food donations breaking last year’s record of 135,000 pounds.
Sponsors for the event included: Diehl Ford, Custom Design Inc, Sanitary Service Company, Wilson‚s Furniture, NW Recyclers, WECU and Premier Wireless.
Flooring donated
Great Floors in Burlington has donated new kitchen flooring and materials for the Oasis Teen Shelter in Mount Vernon so they could remain in compliance with State licensing requirements. Dave Perkins coordinated the project and the installation.
The Windermere Foundation, through Windermere Real Estate/Skagit Valley in Mount Vernon, provided the funds for the installation.
Cost Cutter, Food Pavilion, Red Apple collect for hungry
Cost Cutter, Food Pavilion, and Red Apple stores in Whatcom County began a holiday Food for All drive. It is a donation program where customers can choose that $2, $3, or $5 be added to their grocery bill at the check-stand. This year’s charities, chosen by their respective stores, are: Lighthouse Mission, Southside Food Bank, Blue Skies for Children, Blaine Food Bank, and Nooksack Valley Food Bank.
Monies will be collected through year’s end, with a check presented to each charity early in 2006. In other ‘good works,’ Brown & Cole recently delivered a check for $13,805 for Hurricane Katrina Relief to the American Red Cross.
Northwest Hot Spring Spas sponsors toy drive
Northwest Hot Spring Spas will dedicate dry Hot Spring spas in their showroom as Toys for Tots donation bins. Last year the first annual Toys for Tots drive ran only one month and raised over 300 toys for local children ranging in age from infant to teen. This year they hope to fill two spas and started earlier on November 1.
Donate unwrapped toys at Northwest Hot Spring Spas at 507 Fisher Lane in Burlington or 1511 Iowa Street in Bellingham.
Monument unveiled
KGMI Radio in Bellingham, in conjunction with Bellingham Parks and the Veterans of Foreign War, unveiled a new granite monument on November 11 to honor the almost 500 Whatcom County residents who have died in service to their country. The monument is at Memorial Park, located at the corner of King and Maryland streets.
KGMI began a contest in May for the best design concept for the new monument. Once Bellingham resident Larry Howlett won the contest, fundraising started. KGMI program director, Debbie Chavez, said, “we immediately set to work on a feverish campaign to raise over $150,000 in cash, donated services and material, with an ambitious target completion date of Veteran’s Day.”
Chavez said area residents demonstrated tremendous support by donating over $20,000 in one day of fund-raising by KGMI. Donations of material and services were also made by over 30 Whatcom County businesses. Over 500 local residents supported the project by purchasing pavers for $50 that are engraved with the name of a veteran and 13 families purchased benches for $1,000 each that are placed throughout the monument plaza.
NAIFA Donates $6,000 to Habitat for Humanity
The 7th annual Benefit Golf Classic sponsored by NAIFA Northwest, raised $6,000. Neal Kloke from NAIFA presented the check to John Shorthill of Habitat for Humanity. NAIFA Northwest is a local association of insurance and financial advisors dedicated to promoting a positive and ethical way of doing business. NAIFA helps provide education opportunities to its members for personal and career growth to coincide with the high professional standards to better serve the community.
ConocoPhillips provides grantWhatcom Center for Early Learning (WCEL), a non-profit organization providing early intervention services for children with special needs and their families, recently received a $1,125 grant from ConocoPhillips for the installation of new lighting for staff offices. Mike Bechtol, who serves as treasurer of the WCEL board of directors made the announcement. WCEL is a United Way partner agency and has been a part of the community for over 30 years.
Edward Jones supports toys for tots drive
Tim Villhauer, an investment representative from Bellingham’s Fairhaven branch of Edward Jones, is using his office as a drop-off location for this year’s Toys for Tots drive. Local residents can bring in a new, unwrapped toy to the branch at 1200 10th Street, Suite 102 in Bellingham, during regular business hours, beginning November 21.
“With the holiday season around the corner, we are all getting ready for the festivities,” Villhauer said, “and as this is the season of giving, now is a great time to remember the less fortunate in our community.”
Foundation contributes $50,600
St. Luke’s Foundation contributed $50,600 to replace four aging dialysis machines with new ones for the Mt. Baker Kidney Center. The new kidney machines have advanced features that will benefit patient treatment while providing lower maintenance and supply costs. More than 120 patients in Whatcom County depend on kidney dialysis services from the center.
The new machines will be used in the main clinic in Bellingham near St Joseph Hospital.
The Mt. Baker Kidney Center is a 501c3 non-profit organization formed in 1980 to provide dialysis treatments for those with kidney failure in the greater Whatcom County area. Financial contributions from the community are an important element of the on-going funding for the center.
Youth soccer players support food bank
Last month, kids who participated in the Whatcom County Youth Soccer Association’s (WCYSA) fall season brought 2,863 pounds of non-perishable food donations to the Northwest Soccer Field. WCYSA, consisting of 11 soccer clubs with over 2,890 children, competed to see which club could raise the highest number of pounds of food per player. The Whatcom Football Club Rangers won by collecting 4.24 pounds of food per player.
“Participating in a community food drive gives the kids and families involved with the WCYSA an opportunity to support their community and make an impact,” said Jeff Kochman, WCYSA board president.
ALS Golf Tournament returns to Semiahmoo
Raising a total of $445,000 over the past two years to fight deadly “Lou Gehrig’s” disease, the ALS Association golf tournament, dinner and auction returns to Semiahmoo Resort on Friday, July 21, 2006.
Combining the effort of an all-volunteer committee with the resources of Semiahmoo Resort, the event has emerged as one of the biggest charity fundraising golf events in the Pacific Northwest. Both previous events were sold out with a capacity turn-out.
The tournament is the result of Semiahmoo residents and club members providing moral support to a local resident diagnosed with the disease. A grassroots, all-volunteer effort began in 2003 to stage last year’s highly successful event.
QM Bearings joins United Way campaign
United Way of Whatcom County was happy to welcome QM Bearings as a new corporate partner in the 2005 fundraising campaign. “We try to broaden the base of support by bringing new companies into the campaign each year,” said United Way President, Peter Theisen. “We provide a very visible way for businesses to integrate into the community. It’s a win-win relationship for the companies and the community.”
QM Bearings, located in Ferndale since 1997, designs, manufactures and markets rugged Blue Brute brand bearings, Quick-Flex brand couplings and conveyor sprockets.
In this year’s United Way effort, QM Bearings raised $2,355 from employees, another $2,355 from the employer’s matching funds and an $8,270 corporate gift for a combined total of $12,980.
“We are proud of our first-time results on this campaign,” said QM Bearings President, Don Yorston. “I believe the United Way is making a big impact in the community, and they provide our company with an effective way to help so many people.”
Literacy Council receives grants
Wells Fargo Bank granted $1,000 to the Whatcom Literacy Council (WLC) to support the ongoing campaign to overcome illiteracy in Whatcom County. The monies from this grant will support students who are specifically focusing their efforts toward improving their employability. WLC will provide literacy or math tutoring as a means to obtain employment or earn an employer certificate. This grant will support three student/tutor pairs for the next year.
U.S. Bancorp Foundation also recently granted $1,000 to the Whatcom Literacy Council as part of their ongoing commitment to community development. U.S. Bancorp is supporting WLC’s efforts to improve student’s employability and increase their job-related skills.
Since 1979, the Literacy Council has provided free, one-to-one customized tutoring to over 7,000 students in Whatcom County.
Opportunity Council receives contribution
The Opportunity Council received a contribution of $5,000 from ConocoPhillips Ferndale Refinery, they announced today.ConocoPhillips Ferndale recently contributed $5,000 to the Opportunity Council in order to continue to provide human services for families who are low-income or in emergency situations. “This donation from ConocoPhillips is especially welcome right now as we are experiencing funding reductions in some of our basic housing services,” said Sheri Emerson, public relations director for the Opportunity Council. “We’re pleased to live in an area where companies partner with us to build a strong community of support for local families who most need our help.” The Opportunity Council services include homeless housing, community voice mail, school support for children in homeless families and more. The Opportunity Council is a private, non-profit, community action agency serving Island, San Juan and Whatcom counties.
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