Charitable Everett group changes name, widens reach

EVERETT — The Greater Everett Community Foundation has a new name that better suits is mission of helping donors support nonprofit groups countywide. At its fundraising breakfast Thursday, the organization announced it will now be known as the Community Foundation of Snohomish County.

Maddy Metzger-Utt, foundation president and CEO, said at the event that another change is coming. Thursday’s Possibilities Breakfast, held in a ballroom at Everett’s Xfinity Arena, was the last such annual fundraiser. Beginning in 2016, the foundation will host smaller gatherings around the county. The goals are to spread the word about the foundation’s work and learn of needs in communities all over the county.

The small gatherings will start May 11 in Snohomish, followed by an event in Arlington next July.

“It’s not just Everett, it’s countywide,” said Patsy Cudaback, a YMCA of Snohomish County senior vice president who heads the Monroe Y. “It sends the right message,” she said of the name change.

Cudaback said a foundation grant was used this summer to prepare 40 children for kindergarten at two Monroe schools. Most had never attended preschool, she said. That’s just one example of hundreds of grants the foundation provides.

The organization also has a new website, www.cf-sc.org, which on Thursday showed this message: “New name, same mission!”

Metzger-Utt said that in 2014 alone, the foundation helped donors make 260 grants — more than $1 million in all — to nonprofits countywide.

Thursday’s program opened with Patty DeGroodt, chairwoman of the foundation’s board, sharing the history of organization, which is deeply rooted in Everett.

Beginning in 1993 as the Everett Parks Foundation, the group worked with the city, clubs and businesses to build new playgrounds at three local parks. In 2001, the group’s board decided to become a full-fledged community foundation.

The Greater Everett Community Foundation’s eight founding families — the Newlands, Phil Johnson, John and Idamae Schack, the Bargreens, the Nysethers, the Tisdels, the Thorsens and the Metzgers — made contributions in 2001 to establish a $2 million operating endowment, which has grown to almost $2.3 million.

With $15 million in assets, the foundation now holds more than 100 charitable funds. They provide grants to all kinds of nonprofits, including homeless shelters, parks, libraries and arts groups. “The vast majority of our funds are permanently endowed, so as our assets grow we should be giving out more and more grants each year,” Metzger-Utt said.

She said there are Trust for Tomorrow donors whose gifts will be made after their deaths. About 40 people have pledged to eventually leave more than $42 million to charitable causes through the foundation, she said.

Breakfast guests were asked to consider making Foundation Supporter-level donations — annual gifts of $500 to $2,500 per year over three years. Metzger-Utt said about $42,000 was raised at the 2014 breakfast. Those donations support the foundation’s nonprofit services, she said. The donor form also asked guests if they would like to be involved, and whether they would attend or host a community gathering.

Metzger-Utt said the foundation recently completed a strategic plan, based on results of surveys from a previous breakfast and interviews with representatives of nonprofits and communities. Along with the name change, the plan envisions more collaboration and partnerships, and possible work on economic development issues.

Training for people involved in nonprofits is already a big focus. Working with United Way of Snohomish County, the foundation offers “Boards on Fire” training programs to help members of nonprofit boards. A Leader Link service matches people interested in service with nonprofits seeking board members.

The breakfast was preceded by a nonprofit showcase, where people from nonprofits talked about their work.

Barbara Kindness, a board member with the Edmonds Driftwood Players community theater, said the foundation supports a “Take a Kid to the Theater” program. “Kids from shelters get to go to live performances,” she said.

Asked about the name change, Dr. Jimmy Grierson said it makes sense. “They do reach out countywide,” said Grierson, a family practice doctor, volunteer and board member with the Safe Harbor Free Clinic in Stanwood.

Crisann Brooks, director of family support with Lutheran Community Services Northwest, said grants from the foundation enhance programs at its Family Support Centers, from Lynnwood and Everett to Lake Stevens, Arlington and Granite Falls.

“I like the name change,” Brooks said. “They support the entire community.”

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

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.

Lynnwood
Crash in Lynnwood blocks Highway 99 south

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, fully blocked southbound lanes. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

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.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

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.