Blog
OICF Invests in Affordable Rentals
Northern Heights Apartments The Orcas Island Community Foundation Board has voted to grant OPAL Community Land Trust $100,000, as needed, to support the purchase of the Northern Heights Apartments located across from the Library on Rose Street in Eastsound. This...
Islands Conservation Corps Shines Bright
ICC Crew on Turtleback Preserve Greetings! I am home, ready and rested, after a lovely break in Mexico and grateful for sunny days to aid re-entry. The Islands Conservation Corps invited the OICF Board and Staff on a site visit on the Turtleback Preserve, where they...
OICF Infrastructure Webinar Invitation
The Orcas Island Community Foundation invites our nonprofits to a free online hour-long webinar on March 1st at 12:30. We are hosting this event to help you plan for the maintenance and upkeep of your infrastructure. This overview webinar will help you learn how to...
Emergence
Rainbow over Orcas Island Leather Goods Megan here, saying “hi” on this first Friday of February as Hilary is still away south of the border. Earlier this week the Groundhog emerged and reported six more weeks of winter, which means (according to a rodent) that we are...
When the Cat’s Away, the Mice will Play
Eagle Lake with Trumpeter Swans Hi all Ed here, standing in for Hilary while she spends a well-deserved two week vacation basking in a warm place much further south than here. Hilary, you better be out on a walk and not reading this. It’s been wonderful to see the...
The Gift of Giving
Cascade Lake OICF remains a very active philanthropic agency. In 2021, we opened 15 new funds, distributed $2.5 million in grants and received 2,554 donations ranging from $10 to $500,000. Each donation is an investment in building a stronger community, strengthening...
Standing Up For Peace & Justice
API / Reuters Images Nonviolence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one's whole being into the being of another. —Martin Luther King, Jr., 1957 Monday is the day we...
Happy New Year!
Woodside Farm from Deer Point Rd 2022 has dawned with weather! Freezing temps, snow and ice has kept us all on our toes. Hopefully things will settle down soon. Until then, stay cozy! The Flood Relief Program that was launched after the November floods is winding...
Happy New Year!
Indian Island 2021 was quite a ride! Our community has been so remarkable during this pandemic. We remain one of the very few counties in the world that has not lost a single fife to Covid. If we met the per capita death rate in Washington State, San Juan County...
Warms my heart
Aerial of Island Hardware As we prepare to celebrate and to hunker down with the severe cold front heading our way, I want to take a moment to share a sweet and sad story. There is a young person who grew up on Orcas and has hit a very low point. That individual’s...