The Whatcom Community Foundation has activated the Resilience Fund to support neighbors affected by the ongoing flooding across our region. In moments like this, Whatcom County’s greatest strength has always been its people. During the 2021 floods, neighbors opened their homes, shared food, checked on elders, and stepped in long before outside assistance arrived. That same spirit of...
Hi neighbors, After a record return of Chinook salmon in Whatcom Creek last month, we find ourselves reflecting on a season full of both challenge and renewal. While the federal shutdown has tested systems and stretched communities, Whatcom Creek offered a quiet triumph; the work of salmon recovery seems to be paying off. It's a reminder that steady...
Are you ready to make a real difference in your community? The Youth Philanthropy Project invites high school students from across Whatcom County to step into the role of community changemaker. As part of this leadership program, you’ll learn how philanthropy works from the inside—exploring local issues, reviewing grant proposals, and deciding how to invest...
Hi neighbors, Although life is always uncertain, these days it is especially so. Which makes our spring THRIVE topic even more relevant, if not easier to discuss. While family violence is a serious and distressing topic most people would rather avoid, the best chance of vanquishing it begins with frank conversation and a commitment to individual...
Hi neighbors, We’re doing our best to keep up with fast-moving federal policy and program changes and their local effects. As I write, news has just broken that some $12 billion in federal health funding to states to track infectious disease and provide mental health and addiction treatment has been terminated. In our recent survey of local...
Hello neighbors, Imagine if we lived in a place without culture, without the arts — without the people, places and events that make us, us. No Deming Logging Show, No SeaFeast or Lummi Stommish or, wait; no…NW Washington Fair? No Mt. Baker Theatre, Jansen Art Center, Pickford Film Center or Whatcom Museum? No second-grade art projects,...
Hello neighbors, There are a few people in my life that I would describe as “the kind of person you want around in an emergency.” They are level-headed, take-charge type people who lead with compassion, humility and courage. They know how to do things and if they run into something they don’t, they MacGyver. They delegate,...
YOU and are invited to help us fill the Mount Baker Theatre for a FREE community screening of the movie UnCharitable, followed by a panel discussion about the movie’s themes and their potential local impacts. Chuckanut Health Foundation, Mount Baker Foundation, United Way of Whatcom County, and Whatcom Community Foundation are cohosting the film. Collectively, we strongly believe that Whatcom’s...
Hi Friends, Ten years ago, I’d guess that few people reading this newsletter would have known what Narcan is. Today, many know it’s a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose. Parents of teens have been urged to keep it on hand — advice as terrifying as it is practical. People — family, friends, neighbors, children —...
