04/21/2009: "New Environmental Stewardship Fund"

The San Juan Island Community Foundation (SJICF) seeks to establish sustainable funding for local projects, and have established a new Environmental Stewardship fund for non-profit membership and public organizations that foster the education and practice of community stewardship of environmental resources.

The fund is open to all San Juan residents and organizations and will, through a collective review and voting process, advise the SJICF board on how to prioritize grant requests.

“The San Juans are a unique island community, offering unmatched opportunities and challenges to restore, protect and preserve our natural environment and to thoughtfully consider the impact of the use of our precious resources,” said Charles Anderson, Foundation chair. “This fund allows members to support the growing number of environmental stewardship programs through a combination of giving and decision making.”

The fund has, within weeks of its founding, raised and funded its first project: the Sustainable San Juans Earth Day Celebration which is taking place today, Saturday April 18 (see: www.stewardshipsjc.org).

There are no fees applied to the Fund, 100% of every donation will go to support local projects.

The Community Foundation serves as a non-profit philanthropic umbrella organization helping donors, non-profits and public organizations to achieve their goals through direct grants, organizational assistance and philanthropic resource management. The work of the SJICF is supported through individuals’ direct contributions to the SJICF Operations Fund.

If you would like to join with others in supporting Environmental Stewardship in our community or support the general work of the Foundation, please call Susan Matthews, SJICF Program Coordinator, 378-1001.