STAFF REPORT
POULSBO — More than 5,700 donations totaling more than $1,017,000 were made on May 5 to 230 nonprofits in the Kitsap Great Give, a day of giving organized by the Kitsap Community Foundation and its presenting sponsor, United Way of Kitsap.
“When we add in the funds donated by the event sponsors ($129,000), the total amount of money going to these 230 nonprofits is over $1.14 million,” the organizers reported on the Kitsap Great Give website.
The Village Green Foundation, which is leading a fundraising effort for the development of a community center, library, senior center and Boys & Girls Club in Kingston, had the most donor support —- 70 gifts totaling $100,598. Rounding out the top five: Kitsap Humane Society, 303 donors, $37,380; Kitsap Regional Library Foundation, 208 donors, $37,299; Children of the Nations, 75 donors, $32,725; and Island Time Activities, 86 donors, $30,770.
Bobbie Moore of the Village Green Foundation said the donations “mean everything.”
“To me, it means that the community is just extremely ready to see this facility completed and brought online,” Moore said.
The foundation plans to use the money to complete the capital campaign for the new Village Green Community Center building, expected to be completed in March 2016.
“You found a real sense of all the wonderful things that are going on in Kitsap County,” Moore said of Kitsap Great Give. “It was really an uplifting event.”
Karen Mathee of the Kitsap Humane Society said the donations confirms that “people really care about the animals.”
“They respect what we’re trying to do here and they care deeply about animals, and that’s pretty apparent,” Mathee said.
The Humane Society will use the donated money to cover the increased cost of care and medical expenses from May through September, when the shelter traditionally has a “huge influx of animals.”
The Humane Society will also use the money to establish a Canine Relaxation Room, so that they can take dogs who may find shelter life to be very stressful and socialize and de-stress them a bit, Mathee said.
Mathee said that the number of donors goes to show how their message of being a progressive shelter with one of the lowest euthanasia rates in the country (less than 5 percent) has really spread among the community.
Ellen Briggs, executive director of Island Time Activities, said so many people donating is “huge” for them.
“It just says a lot about our community and how supportive our community is to nonprofits,” Briggs said.
Island Time Activities is a nonprofit that provides services to people with intellectual disabilities such as autism and Down’s syndrome. Briggs said the activities they provide range from hiking to arts and more, depending on the interest of their participants. As a nonprofit, Briggs said they need to raise about 40 percent of their annual budget in fundraising and grants.
“For us to be able to raise that amount of money in one day,” Briggs said, “is a really huge boost for our ability to continue to provide the services that we provide, and potentially expand them.”
“The spirit of philanthropy is strong in our communities,” the website states. “In addition to raising this phenomenal sum of money, we have increased awareness of many important causes in the region.”
