This isn’t your typical annual report.
But then, this isn’t your typical year.
We usually publish a comprehensive Gratitude Report in late April, sharing stories of what you nurtured, supported, and inspired with your donations during the previous calendar year. This late winter and early spring, however, the world was just beginning to grapple with the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, our calendar—usually filled with transformational learning programs—was suddenly wiped clean. In late March through May, much of our team was furloughed and it didn’t feel like the right time to invest in producing a retrospective of 2019. Staffing is currently at about 35% of pre-COVID levels—including our furloughed kitchen team—and we couldn’t be here without you. We are so grateful to our community of donors, without whom our ongoing care of this vital place and our operational core would not be possible.
As we close out a challenging year, we have so much to be grateful for. We’re grateful for those of you who’ve continued to support the land, and our work to nurture the conditions for transformation, through this season of disruption. We’re grateful to the program leaders and program participants who handled unexpected changes with grace and care—many rescheduling for 2021 and beyond, many adapting to partially or fully online models, and many rolling their program payments foward to apply to future opportunities. We’re grateful to the volunteers who came forward to tend our trails and garden beds during a time of reduced staffing, whether by adopting a trail section or by
participating in socially-distanced work parties.
We’re so grateful for wise leadership, sound public health guidance, and compassionate communty care. We appreciate the first responders, care providers, essential workers, and social justice leaders who’ve helped our communities immesurably this year.
In this report, you’ll find the names of donors who gave between January 2019 and June 2020. We’d like to make a special note of our gratitude to the 215 donors who gave $154,548 during our October 2020 Online Fundraising Gala—including 87 first-time donors! $10,840 of these gifts were used to fund Community-Supported Restoration & Renewal Retreats, ensuring that in Spring 2021 we can welcome at least 20 first responders, essential workers, and community organizers to the land for rest, beauty, and nourishment at no cost to them for their participation. Thank you, donors, for helping make the healing power of this land accessible for all.
Gratefully, the Whidbey Institute Board and Staff