GUEST EDITORIAL: Good things come out of community efforts

MOSES LAKE — On five cold and sometimes snowy days in March 2008 more than 2,000 community members across Grant County came together to build a playground at Doolittle and Patton outside of Moses Lake.

After months of fund-raising by a small group of determined individuals and collaboration with Columbia Basin Foundation as the fiscal sponsor for the project the playground was complete. Donations had flooded in big and small.

Too many times to count, I received $2 in cash or a $5 check in the mail with a note stating simply, “I know this isn’t much but it’s all I can do and I wanted to be a part of something this special.”

I remember the countless children from classrooms all over the county who saved pennies in order to purchase a picket for the fence with their classroom’s name on it.

The Doolittle Park story is a compelling example of the difference that can be made in the lives of others when a community comes together.

This season of giving should be a time of reflection about the great needs that persist in our communities and action to be a part of the solution. That is an important part of our work at Columbia Basin Foundation, which serves Grant and Adams counties and western Lincoln County.

The needs are great and urgent. Too many of our young people do not graduate high school or college ready to succeed in today’s high-tech, rapidly changing world. Too many mothers and fathers struggle to get the training they need to secure a job that supports their families. Too many patients suffer because they can’t get the quality health care they deserve. Too many people are homeless or cannot gain access to critical community services because of limited resources.

At a time when the capability of government to solve our most pressing problems is not limitless, foundation grant making offers a timely complement to government action. We are entering a new and exciting era of philanthropic growth. The historic commitment of 40 of America’s wealthiest individuals to donate a majority of their fortunes to charity and the proliferation of public-philanthropic partnerships through efforts like the Social Innovation Fund are proving to be an important part of regaining America’s economic strength.

How we choose to respond will determine the pace we set and the impact we have in realizing meaningful solutions to our most pressing challenges. Community foundations are on the front lines of this change, leading the charge, demonstrating flexibility, and leveraging relationships and resources to achieve results. Columbia Basin Foundation is one of more than 700 community foundations in America working in collaboration with community, state, and national partners to more effectively tackle some of society’s toughest challenges in education, health care, job training, poverty, natural disasters, and more.

Since our inception in 1996 through 2009 our organization has provided more than $3 million to support a number of nonprofit organizations and causes to advance the public good and to local students through college scholarships. For example, Columbia Basin Foundation works with a number of small local organizations through fiscal sponsorships so donations to their organizations can be tax deductible and so they may receive grants from other nonprofit organizations.

Two of our fiscal sponsorships are Central Basin Traffic Safety Taskforce and Safe Kids Grant County. These organizations provide training and equipment for local law enforcement, car seats and car seat checks for families, helmets to our children, etc. and work to make Grant County safer for all its citizens.

We are proud of the commitment and creativity in our communities to find new and better ways to improve the lives of our neighbors in need. November 12-18, marks Community Foundation Week in America to raise awareness about the increasingly important role of the more than 700 philanthropic organizations working to achieve meaningful results for our communities. We take that responsibility very seriously, and we are more determined than ever to strengthen collaboration with our partners to realize a better quality of life for all.

For more information, go online and visit www.columbiabasinfoundation.org.