Help anyone and everyone in our community — individuals, families, nonprofits, businesses—recover from a crisis or disaster through a combination of emergency preparedness investments and response funding. The Resilience Fund is our community’s bounce-back fund. Currently, the Resilience Fund is supporting our neighbors in rebuilding and recovering from the flooding events of November, 2021, as well as building the fund to ensure our communities’ are better prepared for our next disaster.  Give now.

Your gift to the WCF Community Fund supports our innovative programs and services which are focused on building a stronger and more resilient community through collaborative partnerships that connect people, ideas, resources, and opportunities for greater impact. Give now.

Develop and promote neighborliness throughout the rural and urban areas of Whatcom County. Launched on election day in 2016, the Project Neighborly grant program is for people who have great ideas about how we can become better neighbors. The initiative’s ultimate aim is to forge more and stronger relationships communitywide, sparking better ideas and decisions, and, a happier, healthier place for everyone. Give now.

Investments from the Equity Fund move us closer to a community that works for everyone, illuminating where we can do better and bringing more opportunities within reach for those who have long experienced barriers. Your gift is helping create a sense of belonging, a community where everyone feels safe and welcome. Give now.

Help high school students develop personal and professional skills needed by the next generation of community leaders. With staff support, students form a leadership committee to review grant proposals and make funding decisions. They learn about local issues affecting Whatcom County and distribute funding that benefits environmentally focused organizations.

Funding for youth grant making comes from an endowment for the environment started by two high school seniors who biked more than 1,200 miles around Washington State; they raised $14,324.31 and gifted it to the Whatcom Community Foundation to start an endowment for youth philanthropy, which is now over $50,000. Give now.

We are proud to manage the following agency endowments for these Whatcom County nonprofit organizations.

The Immigrant Relief Fund is currently being used to support detainees and their families affected by the August 29, 2018 ICE raid that occurred in Bellingham. (The Fund may be used in response to future actions that occur in Whatcom County.) Your gift to the Relief Fund will help families buy essentials like groceries, medicine and gas, stay in safe, stable housing, and get the assistance they need. Give now.

The Arch of Healing and Reconciliation is a monument honoring people who came to Whatcom County from many parts of the world to work in salmon processing plants, lumber mills and coal mines. Their efforts helped our community flourish and yet many immigrants faced hostility and violence. Chinese, Indian and Japanese immigrants in particular were targeted and forcibly removed from the city in 1885, 1907 and 1942. The monument stands near the Bellingham Public Library across from city hall. Funds donated today support a college scholarship fund for the children on Whatcom County immigrants and developing an annual international food festival in Bellingham. Give now.

Donations support thoughtful, responsive grantmaking in Whatcom County. Give now.