Recently, OPAL Community Land Trust invited OICF and the Community Resource Center to meet with the San Juan County Emergency Management team to begin discussing our roles in a natural disaster. Watching the fires unfold in California has brought the topic to life in many ways. San Juan Island has a Resilience Corps, which is a loose knit team of organizations that are working together to raise community awareness and preparedness. The timing feels right to start a similar program on Orcas.
OICF is also working with Community Foundations in other regions of Washington to set up emergency protocols so communities outside the impact zone can support those communities in need right away. First step would likely be to establish an emergency fund to assure access to resources. This is yet another benefit of the software platform that we helped develop locally. It is now being used by over 100 Community Foundations nationally, giving us a network of organizations that are proficient in our processes and able to provide support if needed. It is good insurance and hopefully we will never need to use it.
If you are interested in supporting California fire relief, both the Venture Community Foundation (https://vccf.org/) and North Valley CF (www.nvcf.org) have set up funds.
As we head towards Thanksgiving and the coming holidays, I wish you joy. I received the following quote from a grade school pal who is in year three of cancer treatment:
The three factors that seem to have the greatest influence on increasing our happiness are our ability to reframe our situation more positively, our ability to express gratitude, and our choice to be kind and generous.
May we all take the opportunity to reframe, rejoice and contribute.
All the best,
Hilary
PS-If you are considering donating stocks this year, OICF is happy to help with both the transfer and distribution to the organizations of your choosing for no fee. We want to make it easy for both you and the organizations you care about. Give me a call if you want more information.