Special Friends campers celebrate outdoor fun at Warm Beach

STANWOOD — All the activities at Warm Beach Camp on a recent sunny day had an air of celebration, from check-in to recreation. When a group of campers and staff hauled one of the teens up to a zipline platform, they cheered him on. When he zipped back down to earth, they whooped even louder.

One of those visiting that day was Stephen Estes, a donor to Special Friends Camp, which is targeted at people with special needs from age 16 up. These include people with autism, Down syndrome or other learning disabilities.

Each camper worked with a buddy — a staff member or volunteer — who stuck by the camper all day.

Estes, a retired teacher who has had experience working with special needs kids, wanted to see what his charitable gift was supporting.

He’d been looking for causes to support, he said, and the Greater Everett Community Foundation had indicated to him that there was a cause here that needed some financial support.

“Because it was special needs, it clicked,” Estes said.

Much of the activity at Special Friends — indeed, all of Warm Beach, which might have five groups of programs running at any one time — is supported by donations, said Ed McDowell, the non-profit’s CEO.

That makes connecting with people like Estes all the more important.

And that’s a niche that the Greater Everett Community Foundation has found works well, said Maddy Metzger-Utt, the foundation’s president and CEO.

The eight-year-old foundation has grown an average of 16 percent annually over the last seven years, Metzger-Utt said.

Based upon the foundation’s investment strategy and some expected future gifts, the foundation’s endowment of about $15 million right now is expected to double to $30 million or more in the next five years, she said.

With increased resources, the foundation has identified several areas where it can apply its strengths to have a positive impact.

“The community is asking us to take a bigger role with collaborations and to take more … community leadership,” Metzger-Utt said.

Foundation funding will allow the Sultan School District to hire part-time staff to coordinate eligibility requirements for mental health services and other resources.

“Counselors shouldn’t be making calls to get kids clothing, schools shouldn’t have to figure out how to feed kids over Christmas break,” Metzger-Utt said.

In many cases, it’s getting people and groups to talk to each other in ways that they haven’t been able to, said Karri Matau, the foundation’s vice president of grantmaking and partnerships.

The question the foundation seeks to answer, Matau said, is “How could a little bit of money help a lot of people all moving in the same direction?”

The foundation has identified four areas to pursue. The first is connecting donors with causes, which also includes finding people who want to serve on the boards of directors of nonprofits.

“Over last two years we’ve found a huge group of people not being able to find boards,” Matau said.

The foundation’s “LeaderLink” initiative, what she bills as a Match.com for board directors, helps build those bridges.

The second area focuses on helping professional advisers who work with foundation donors and clients — lawyers, accountants, financial professionals — negotiate the world of philanthropy.

The third area is to increase the interest of donors in economic development issues.

The foundation saw this after the March 22, 2014 mudslide near Oso, when it established a fund that helped the cities of Arlington and Darrington with economic planning so they could rebound from the economic hit they took.

This is a brand new initiative, Metzger-Utt said.

“We don’t even know what our options are yet,” she said.

The final part of the strategy will focus on bringing more financial resources into Snohomish County as a whole. Again, its’ a new initiative, and it doesn’t even necessarily involve raising money for the foundation, but rather involving the entire community.

“It’s not just our foundation assets, it’s our community wealth and assets,” Matau said.

In this way the foundation would become a support system for the community as a whole.

A lot of these new initiatives are expected to be announced at the foundation’s annual breakfast on Oct. 1, along with a renewed focus on supporting all of Snohomish County.

“We’ve always been about every part of our community, every part that makes a community healthy and thrive,” Matau said.

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.