The Sequim Food Bank, the Clallam County YMCA and The Rainforest Players of Forks recently received the first Nonprofit Excellence Awards.
Awards were presented May 20 at the third biennial Alliance for Leadership Programs Conference by Claire Bishop of the Benjamin N. Phillips Fund of the Seattle Foundation and Sue Ellen Riesau of the Olympic View Community Foundation in Sequim.
The $750 cash awards were given to each of the three organizations for Excellence in Collaboration with other organizations, which allowed each agency to make a greater impact in their respective communities than could have been made if they’d attempted to go it alone.
In 2015, with a $3,000 grant from OVCF, the Sequim Food Bank conducted a survey of client needs and use of its services which revealed that many clients desired more fresh fruit and vegetable options. That information led to the formation of the Sequim Dungeness Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, a community-wide effort to create a healthier place to live. The coalition recently launched its Ready, Set, Go! 5210 initiative to promote healthy lifestyle choices.
The Clallam County YMCA was recognized for its efforts to save the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center from permanent closure. Len Borchers, acting CEO, and YMCA staff and board members spent hundreds of hours meeting to establish how the YMCA business model could be used to reopen this facility. SARC will reopen as the Sequim YMCA under the management of the Olympic Peninsula YMCA this fall.
Rainforest Players of Forks collaborated with the City of Forks to build the Rainforest Arts Center after the original arts center in the former Odd Fellows Hall and the adjacent building were destroyed in a fire on Oct. 29, 2012.
“In a sector that’s often low on resources, collaboration can lead us to solve problems in new, more cost-effective ways,” said Riesau. “Today, foundations look for ways to increase the impact their grant dollars make in communities and reward collaboration among nonprofit organizations, public/private sector partnerships and other creative alliances.”
