West Seattle, Washington
18 Wednesday
In case you’re doing some spring cleaning this weekend – heads up on a donation event that’s now just about a week away: West Seattle’s Girl Scout/Brownie Troop #40890 asks you to help them “Stuff the Van” to help young hospital patients and homeless families – here’s what they’re collecting and why:
Benefiting critically ill children at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the homeless at Wellspring Family Services:
What: Used children’s DVDs
Gently used BLANKETS
Gently used CHILDREN’S PJsWhen: 3:45 – 5:00 pm on April 27 and 29
Where: Westside Presbyterian Church
3601 California Ave SW
(Look for the black VW Eurovan)Sponsored by Girl Scout Brownie Troop #40890
(2nd Graders from Lafayette, Schmitz Park and Alki Elementary Schools)
With one month to go till the bigger-every-year West Seattle Helpline benefit, the Taste of West Seattle, the lineup of food and beverage providers is now finalized – more than three dozen this year! WSB sponsors Hotwire Coffee, Metropolitan Market, Skylark Café and Club, and Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering are participating, as are Angelina’s, Avalon, Bakery Nouveau, Bamboo Grill, Beveridge Place Pub, Bin 41, Blackboard Bistro, Blue Willow Catering and Luncheonette, The Bridge, Chaco Canyon Organic Café, Circa, Cupcake Royale, Duke’s Chowder House, Eats Market Café, Elliott Bay Brewery, Fresh Bistro/Herban Feast, Freshy’s, Full Tilt Ice Cream, Great Harvest Bread Company, Husky Deli, Kokoras Greek Grill, Locol, Phoenecia at Alki, Porterhouse, Prost! West Seattle, Salty’s on Alki, Schooner Exact, Slices on Alki, Spring Hill, Sugar Rush Baking Company, West 5, West Seattle Cellars, and Wing Dome. It’s at The Hall at Fauntleroy again this year, and tickets are on sale now at tasteofwestseattle.org – $40 in advance (it’ll be $45 at the door, 6-9 pm May 19th).
“We got the sun we ordered!” exulted Dolly Vinal of the West Seattle Wildlife Habitat Project when we saw her a little while ago as a Duwamish Alive! work party began at the project’s Seacrest Park demonstration garden. She is also thrilled about the turnout – more than a dozen people already were digging into the waterfront garden, which Dolly says just mostly needs post-winter cleanup, though they also have received “some great native plants” from Seattle Parks. This is one of a dozen-plus locations, from West Seattle to South Park to Tukwila, where you’ll find volunteers working on our area’s precious greenspaces over the next few hours; one of them is T-107 Park on the river itself, where a dedication ceremony at 1 pm will spotlight new features including an interpretive sign. And at 2 pm, an Earth Day festival at Pathfinder K-8 on Pigeon Point follows the work parties. More to come!
In addition to the four big events mentioned in our previous report, three other Saturday happenings meriting an advance reminder (did we mention, it’s a BIG day around West Seattle/White Center?):
GREEN UP DELRIDGE! North Delridge Neighborhood Council‘s Karrie Kohlhaas just sent one last reminder around:
Meet: Delridge Community Center, 4501 Delridge Way SW. Find us to the right side of the main entrance of the Community Center.
When: Saturday, April 16th from 10am – 2pm. You can show up any time to help out, but if you want to join the Adopt-A-Street team, you may need to catch up to them along Delridge Way.
Bring: Gloves, hot beverage tumbler or water bottle, any tools you prefer, depending on which team you want to be on (painting, gardening, or litter pick up).
We provide: Tools, garbage bags and garbage pickers, hot drinks, paint.
Meet neighbors, lend a hand and feel proud that you care about your neighborhood.
WESTCREST PARK TREE-PLANTING: The more help, the merrier, here too. From Mike Shellenberger:
In conjunction with the HP3 runners’ event that starts at Big Al’s Brewing this Saturday, April 16th, the Green Seattle Alliance (GSA) Volunteers will be planting hundreds of native evergreen trees in Westcrest Park. The intent is to begin to replace the older deciduous trees, like maples and alders, that are reaching their life span with native longer lived evergreens like fir, cedars, pines etc…We can use as many volunteers as we can get. The more folks that volunteer, the more we can plant. Just show up at the Westcrest Park main parking lot on the west side of the Park near the Kids Play area at 9:15 AM Saturday and we’ll put you to work on this important project.. While volunteering, people can also walk the Park’s trails and view Spring’s new arrivals. For instance, the beautiful native trilliums are in full bloom..See you Saturday.
HP3: Billed as the first and only environmental-adventure race of its kind, this is a 16-mile course with multiple tasks, to be run for the first time tomorrow in eastern West Seattle/White Center – details here!
We mentioned the Lions Club‘s plant sale tonight (5-8 pm at the Senior Center) in our morning preview, and now there’s word of another plant sale under way right now, along with a bake sale – The Providence Mount St. Vincent Auxiliary has a plant, bake, and mini-bazaar sale under way in The Mount’s lobby (4831 35th SW) till 4 pm. Thanks to Colleen for sharing the bake-sale photo.
That’s an advance look (click the image for a larger version) at the interpretive sign that will be dedicated at T-107 Park on the Duwamish River in West Seattle this Saturday afternoon, as the multisite Duwamish Alive! work party wraps up. As previewed here earlier this month, there’s a lot going on at that site on Saturday, but it’s still in need of more volunteers, according to Cari Simson from the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition. We asked her where help is still needed, and she said about 20 more people could still be used at the adjoining Herring’s House and T-107 park sites, as well as several volunteers each at Longfellow Creek (Brandon Street Natural Area) and Roxhill Bog. If you would like to RSVP for T-107, e-mail contact@duwamishcleanup.org; for the other two, adam.jackson@kingcd.org. If you can’t join in the work parties but would like to go to T-107 for the dedication ceremony (which also will mark the opening of a new hand-carry boat launch), it’s at 1 pm Saturday (with dignitaries scheduled to be on hand including Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and City Council President Richard Conlin).
Earlier today, we published the story of Pathfinder K-8 “Penny Harvest” participants deciding to donate $500 to West Seattle for Japan after a visit from its organizer, Dave Montoure of West 5. We asked Dave if there was an update on the community fundraising total; he said an announcement was in the works – and here it is:
Today I have submitted a request to an anonymous corporate donor to match the $8,591.45 raised by our businesses and our community during the West Seattle for Japan donation drive on Sunday, March 27th. If they agree to the full match our total raised will be $17,182.90.
This is an astonishing amount of money to be raised in such a short period of time. It speaks volumes about the caring nature of our businesses and our community. I couldn¹t be more proud to call West Seattle home.
In addition to the funds raised and matched through our donation drive, I have worked with several other donors and wish to recognize the efforts of Nancy McManus of QuallyQue for her efforts during the “tweetup” raffle for Japan relief.
I wish to also recognize the effort of a great group of kids at Pathfinder K-8. Through their ‘Penny Harvest’ program they are donating $500 to the WS4J relief effort and I have secured at least one corporate donor that will match that generous amount I am pretty sure I can leverage several other corporate donors to match what the Pathfinder children have donated with a goal of turning their pennies into dimes (or dollars). If you are aware of any potential donors, and would like me to approach them, please forward contact information to me directly.
Moving forward I will wait for the donor¹s response and when those funds are deposited I will split the proceeds 50/50 and have one check delivered to Peace Winds America (so they can remit to their office in Tokyo) and will have one check transferred to the account of KnK International’s bank in Tokyo. No agency fees have been taken, no credit card percentages have been charged, no bank fees will accrue. This is real money, getting directly into the hands of people who need it the most.
Thank you
Dave Montoure
West 5
If you missed the big day of fundraising on March 27th involving almost 30 businesses, here are links to WSB morning-till-night as-it-happened coverage: Morning report here; afternoon report here; evening report here.
Two weeks after almost 30 local businesses joined together for the West Seattle for Japan fundraiser, we’re still getting word of more donations. WS4Japan organizer Dave Montoure of West 5 was invited to visit Pathfinder K-8 last week, as its students decided how to “spend” the $1,000 netted in their Penny Harvest efforts.
(Photo courtesy Amy Daly-Donovan and Jennifer Giomi)
Pathfinder’s volunteer Penny Harvest coaches Amy Daly-Donovan and Jennifer Giomi report:
Dave was very gracious, providing an overview of his experience and friendships in Japan and the tremendous generosity shown by the West Seattle community in raising money to support the citizens of Japan. He outlined the work of Peace Winds and KnK, and the Penny Harvest team was especially interested in the work of KnK as they focus their efforts on supporting children affected by these terrible natural disasters.
After meeting with Dave and holding telephone interviews with two other organizations, the Pathfinder K-8 Penny Harvest team decided to grant $500 to West Seattle for Japan (which is being generously matched by an anonymous corporate sponsor). The remainder will go to the Seattle Humane Society ($300) and Children’s Hospital Foundation ($200).
Other schools participate in Penny Harvest as well, which the Pathfinder team describes as “a fantastic philanthropy curriculum/program.” It’s explained online at pennyharvest.org.
That, we are told, is the Rolls-Royce of tricycles – a Kettler Air Navigator. When we stopped by the Lincoln Park Cooperative Preschool benefit multifamily sale a little while ago, it was still up for grabs, at a third the price. Volunteers including (from left) Jennifer, Tami, and Katie are ready to help point you to whatever you’re looking for:
Lots of clothes, too.
The sale’s on till 3 pm at Seaview United Methodist Church (where the preschool classes have long been held) – 47th and Graham (look for the signs on Graham pointing you to the entrance.
More than a few West Seattle businesspeople spent part of today in “lockup” – but it was for a good cause, and they didn’t do anything wrong. They joined in a Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser where they had to rustle up donations in order to get “bailed out.” Above, Todd Ainsworth of West Seattle Autoworks (WSB sponsor); below, Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy of Mac’s Triangle Pub on the West Seattle/White Center border in the south Delridge Triangle:
We photographed both at Angelina’s in Admiral, which served as the “lockup” host site for West Seattle participants, once they were picked up by Seattle firefighters! It was up to the “locked up” to figure out how to get friends, family, clients, etc., to chip in donations so they could get out and get on with the rest of the day; one of the most enterprising was longtime WSB sponsor Rhonda Porter, who’s one of our area’s most active businesspeople on Twitter, Facebook, and the Web, and used them all to round up enough cash to get out within an hour or so! It’s not too late to donate – for example, Rhonda’s page is here, WS Autoworks’ page is here. If we can find Mac’s link, we’ll add it tooAnd here’s Mac’s link; plus, here’s somebody else who tweeted theirs – Cheryl from Twilight Artist Collective – (donation link here).
Two followups tonight on weekend collection efforts in West Seattle that both proved highly successful:
(WSB photo from Saturday)
On Saturday, we reported on the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle food drive “as it happened.” It was part of the global volunteer-action Kiwanis ONE Day. Tonight, the Kiwanians report that they collected more than 7,000 pounds of food and almost $1,000 in cash at five West Seattle grocery stores Saturday – all going to the West Seattle Food Bank (and remember, this is the time of year when food-bank donations count extra). The club says, “Special thanks goes out to all the members of the community who generously donated to support this worthy cause.” They’re also glad to have had Key Club members join them (note the teens in our photo). West Seattle Kiwanis also wants to remind you that they meet 1st, 3rd, 4th Wednesdays for breakfast, 7 am, and lunch (noon) on the 3rd Wednesday at Be’s Restaurant in The Junction (4509 California SW)
Another event we covered “as it happened” – on Sunday, the Fauntleroy Church Green Committee invited the community to another Recycle Roundup:
(WSB photo from Sunday)
Judy Pickens reports that 1 Green Planet filled its trucks with “an estimated 12 to 14 tons of just about everything for free recycling.” The church did accept donations from anyone interested in showing their appreciation – and took in almost $1,000. She says the company’s crew chief Michael Szanyi told them that the “strong support has made Fauntleroy Church one of 1 Green Planet’s favorite places to go!”
Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
With Earth Day coming up later this month, opportunities for “doing good” for the environment abound. One day when you have multiple opportunities and multiple sites to choose from is Saturday, April 16th – the annual Duwamish Alive! restoration/cleanup event.
We wanted to spotlight some of the sites that will get TLC that day. For starters, Cari Simson of Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (DRCC), whose “role is to educate
the public about the Superfund cleanup site,” talked with us about their Duwamish Alive! site at T-107 Park along West Marginal Way on the east edge of West Seattle.
Dozens of special young visitors were at West Seattle Food Bank headquarters this morning – to celebrate something they helped create: Listening to Food Bank executive director Fran Yeatts are Lakeside School sixth-graders who collaborated with West Seattle Elementary fourth-graders to create new mosaics unveiled today – here’s a closer look:
The art celebration is part of a big, busy springtime for the food bank – the annual Instruments of Change benefit is just a month away, and the WS Food Bank has news about that:
The West Seattle Food Bank would like to send a very big thank you to all that have signed on as sponsors for the Instruments of Change fundraiser coming up on Friday, May 6th, 2011 at The Hall at Fauntleroy.
The Food Bank has received its largest single sponsorship to date from Jackson, Morgan & Hunt [WSB sponsor]. The West Seattle accounting firm has generously signed on as a $5,000 “Community Humanitarian” sponsor. Charles Morgan CPA, Managing Partner, stated they upped their sponsorship because we know that a lot more people are having to use the food bank’s services.
Last year families visited the agency 37,396 times, a fifty percent increase in the past several years. “We are very grateful to Jackson, Morgan & Hunt and all the other sponsors (including WSB) that are helping to make this event a success,” said WSFB Executive Director Fran Yeatts.
King County Executive Dow Constantine is the keynote speaker at this 4th annual Instruments of Change – the West Seattle Food Bank’s largest fundraising event of the year. The event also features a cocktail hour, live music and a Dessert Dash.
Tickets are selling fast. Those interested in buying event tickets or being an Instruments of Change sponsor can contact Anna Guitchounts at 206-932-9023 or at anna@westseattlefoodbank.org. Individual tickets are $75 and sponsorship levels begin at $500. Individual tickets can also be purchased through brownpapertickets.com at .
To see the full list of generous sponsors to date and get more information about the event, visit http://www.westseattlefoodbank.org/IOC2011A.asp.
It wouldn’t be “Catsino” without cats, now would it? These two are part of the crowd at the Furry Faces Foundation fundraiser “Catsino,” under way at Beveridge Place Pub till 6. And F3’s Teri Ensley is ecstatic – she told WSB it’s a full house, all 85 tickets sold. And between the players and the hosts – some memorable sights:
More photos after the jump:Read More
No rain so far – fine time to head to the beach (sun or no sun), and while you’re there, stop by Alki Arts (2820 Alki SW) and sign up for the bone-marrow registry (while also checking out the art that’s on display and on sale!). Nothing painful – just the one-in-a-million chance that maybe someday you would have the chance to save somebody’s life, maybe that of Christy Bemis, whose story is at the end of our report about Marnie Devlin (at left in top photo), who came up with the marrow-drive idea to celebrate her 25th birthday, and got community sponsors to donate prizes and treats (Alki Arts donated use of its space, too).
The event continues till 6 tonight.
7:56 PM UPDATE: Via Facebook, Alki Arts reports more than 100 people registered!
Both of these events started with one person’s idea, magnified by help from and participation by others: The first day of Shelley Lebert‘s community garage sale for Japan relief at 3014 45th SW was already going full speed when we stopped by this morning. Shelley (holding the sign) was so excited about the team effort that had made it happen, she gathered some of the other volunteers with her when we asked to take a photo. All the while, garage-salers kept pulling up out front; if you go before the end of today, or 9 am-4 pm tomorrow, be sure to note there’s lots of stuff BEHIND the house.
In front, there’s also a fundraising bake sale:
Shelley was thrilled the sun came out this morning and the weather dried out; she told us how hard the volunteers had worked in the midst of the drippy weather yesterday, sorting donations and buying tents just in case. Again, 9 am-4 pm again tomorrow, 3014 45th SW.
Meantime, along Alki this afternoon, you might have spotted the group dog-walk to raise awareness for the plight of pets in the quake/tsunami zone:
CL shared that view across the street from the dog walk’s starting point at Anchor Park; this is the walk that Anthony from Left Coast Dog Service announced yesterday – that’s his trademark green van with a Japanese flag draped on the side. We counted dozens of dogs and people by the time they grouped up and took off; we have a video clip to add later. too:
(If you’d like to donate to those helping animals affected by the Japan disaster – here’s the link on Anthony’s banner.)
Scenes from two more West Seattle events happening this afternoon: That’s Sabra from Purrfect Pals with Chantou, a 1-year-old female who is one of three cats (the other two are 1 and 8) brought to Pet Elements in search of “forever homes” during this afternoon’s Morgan Junction Pet Adoption Stroll. You’ll find dogs at Stella Ruffington’s, 7003 California SW. The Pet Adoption Stroll (details in this WSB Forums post) continues till 4 pm. In The Junction, meantime, it’s Earth Month at CAPERS:
Lisa from CAPERS shared that photo – she explains, “CAPERS kicks off earth month with a showcase of products that are ‘Green’ for your home. (Today till 3 it’s) Meyer Wells Reclaimed Wood Furniture, Caldrea Homekeeping, Oecotextiles in the house showcasing the green aspects of design. Don’t miss the BPA-free waterbottles & red wine resistant linens too.” They’re at 4521 California SW.
Till 3 pm, there are five places you can donate nonperishable food to the West Seattle Food Bank via the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle’s one-day food drive. We caught up with West Seattle Kiwanians and Key Club members outside PCC Natural Markets‘ West Seattle store (WSB sponsor) above, and fellow Kiwanians from Rainier Valley (with help from WSHS Key Club) at Jefferson Square Safeway below:
More information about the food drive, including the full list of stores, is here.
The earthquake/tsunami victims and survivors of Japan include pets – and a West Seattle entrepreneur has just announced he’s leading a “mass dog-walk” at Alki tomorrow. Anthony Hardt of Left Coast Dog Services invites “all people and dogs” to join him at noon at Anchor (Luna) Park, from which they’ll head west toward the Alki business district. Hardt tells WSB they’ll accept donations if participants want to participate, but they also will “have a big banner showing a secure website with PayPal so folks can donate online” to this Japanese animal-advocacy organization.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: After the main story, we have a side note from someone whose life might be saved by a donor found this way. This isn’t someone Marnie pointed out, but someone who was sharing news about it on Facebook. Please be sure to read past the jump for her story.)
By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
As she nears her 25th birthday, Marnie Devlin has been thinking about ways to make a difference. “My friends seem to have these ‘quarter-life’ crises where they wonder about their (life) directions, and I’ve always laughed and thought they were being silly. But now (turning 25) I think maybe I should do something I can point to as an accomplishment.”
Coming from a family of blood donors, and being an EMT, Marnie is well aware of the need for bone marrow donors, and the importance of getting people signed up with the National Marrow Donor Program. She says, “I realized it how easy it is and I thought if my friends knew how easy it is, most of them would sign up. My original idea was to get 25 people signed up for my 25th birthday. I posted my idea on Facebook and Twitter, where the (Puget Sound) Blood Center saw it and wanted to help.”
Thanks to the collaboration with the Puget Sound Blood Center and a number of local businesses, Marnie is hosting a full-on marrow donor registration event this Sunday (April 3rd) at Alki Arts (2820 Alki Avenue SW.) Owner Diane Venti is donating the space and from 2-6 pm, Marnie will be serving champagne and goodies baked by her family while PSBC registers potential marrow donors for the Be The Match program.
Marnie explains that because people think the registration procedure involves something painful and invasive, they won’t do it. Turns out, that’s wrong.
Daily update from West Seattle for Japan organizer Dave Montoure of West 5: “$7936.45. Only a couple of checks left to collect! Amazing.”
If somehow you missed it, almost 30 West Seattle businesses participated in last Sunday’s fund-raise-a-thon – which Montoure had announced just a little more than a week earlier – with special items, percentages of proceeds, donation jars, and more. (And $-raising continues – there’s a raffle during a tweetup at West 5 starting tonight at 5:30 pm.)
It’s a West Seattle High School tradition to have a safe/sober “Grad Night” celebration – and this year Chief Sealth International High School is having a “Grad Night” too. Tickets are on sale, $50 through April 15th, then $60 after spring break, but the school notes that the actual cost is more like $150 per student. All the same, in recognition that $50 is still steep for some, the Chief Sealth PTSA has set up a way to “sponsor a senior” by donating all or part of the cost of a ticket through an online purchase. If you’d like to be a sponsor, here’s where to go.
From the team at Neighborhood House in High Point:
Prom, as many of you know is a rite of passage for high school youth in America, and one that many youth/families can not afford. So – help us help our girls.
High Point Family Center and YELS are going to host a prom dress ‘clothing fair’ in late April and would love donations of – Prom Dresses (gently used and clean) and Accessories (purses, shawls, hair clips etc). You can drop off your donation at 6400 Sylvan Way SW. … Just remember – your nightmare-inducing mermaid dress just might be a youth’s dream dress!
Optimal times for dropoff times are Monday-Friday 10 am- 4 pm and Saturday 10:30 am-12:30 pm (ask for Aparna or Dena). If you have a question – 206-588-4900, extension 626. (And here’s a map to 6400 Sylvan Way SW.)
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