On Saturday, Aug. 8, EnviroIssues staff participated in the Austin Foundation’s fitness challenge event, held at the Be Well Washington Health Fair at Qwest Field. The Austin Foundation is dedicated to “transforming lives through fitness” and its many programs provide fitness and nutrition programs that empower youth to build a healthy way of life. At the festival, our crew helped run fitness stations, including the information / nutrition table, push-ups, sit-ups, resistance bands, stretching, balance, step-ups, and trampoline. Although it was raining, more than 5,000 people participated in the day of fitness and everyone got a good workout!

Casa Latina connects Latino immigrants new to the Seattle area with education and employment opportunities, empowering them to participate in the economy and democracy of this country.

Founded in 1990, CHB works to clean up and protect Tacoma’s Commencement Bay and surrounding waters and habitat. CHB has also become a recognized voice in the community and represents, involves, and educates the public and local businesses.

In June, EnviroIssues staff washed the inside and outside of eight program vans for Childhaven, practicing environmental stewardship through methods to divert soap away from storm drains. The vans transport kids to and from programs, picking them up at their homes in the morning and dropping them off in the late afternoon. The vans are vital to Childhaven’s programs and were also in desperate need of a good scrub. The effort took four hours, but by the time we finished, the vans were sparkly clean! EnviroIssues is a longtime supporter of Childhaven, participating each year in their holiday giving program and the Shamrock Box Lunch Campaign.

EnviroIssues joined People for Puget Sound, King County, NOAA, the ECOSS, and over 200 other volunteers at North Wind’s Weir restoration site in Tukwila this past Saturday to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. The North Wind’s Weir estuary habitat restoration project was designed to create 2.5 acres of high quality habitat for juvenile salmon on the Duwamish River. Volunteers that participated in the Duwamish Alive! event planted trees, shrubs, and wetland plants, and spread 75 cubic yards of mulch that will improve habitat for not only the juvenile salmon, but also other aquatic creatures, birds, and wildlife in the area. Thanks to all who helped out at this great event!

Friends of Ross Island is a joint effort of Willamette Riverkeeper, Urban Greenspaces Institute, Audubon Society of Portland and GreenWorks PC and its mission is to provide a forum to allow the public to keep informed and become involved in decisions and activities pertaining to Ross Island. Our vision is one that integrates a protected restored Ross Island that provides critical habitat for native wildlife species, respect for Ross Islands past and present industrial contributions, and unparalleled opportunities for people to respectfully enjoy nature in the center of our urban landscape.

Futurewise is celebrating 20 years and EnviroIssues is proud to support their work in the Puget Sound. Our staff joined more than 250 community members to celebrate with Futurewise at the 20 Year Reunion event on March 20, 2010 that included honorary awards for Governor Booth Gardner, Senator Maria Cantwell, and Speaker of the House Joe King for their leadership on the Growth Management Act. Futurewise was started in response to passage of the GMA passage in 1990 and promotes healthy communities and cities while protecting farmland, forests, and shorelines. We look forward to continuing our support of Futurewise as we both celebrate 20 years in 2010!

Park(ing) Day is a one-day, global event that turns metered parking spots into temporary public parks. Each year more than 900 participants across the globe participate in this highly visible event.

Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) organizes spring and fall micro plastic beach sand sampling events per year. Volunteers sample 35 Puget Sound beaches. Plastics in the water and in beach sediments may be impacting marine life, including birds who mistakenly eat micro plastics as food. Check out their spring event featured in the Seattle PI online.

The Hammond House is a shelter that serves homeless and low-income women in Seattle and King County. The women who receive support from the Hammond House often face multiple issues including domestic abuse, mental illness, drug/alcohol dependence, poor employment histories, undeveloped employment skills, child custody or other legal issues, and poor or incomplete rental histories. The Hammond House offers one-on-one case management and services that help individuals identify the main issues in their lives and provide them with a system of support.

The mission of YWCA GirlsFirst is to encourage leadership, instill confidence, develop skills, and provide opportunities to girls of color.

In 1990, local citizens created a plan for the Mountains to Sound Greenway to keep an accessible landscape of forests, wildlife habitat and natural areas as breathing room for people, and a place of incomparable beauty, history and outdoor recreation for their children and grandchildren.

Today, the Greenway surrounds 100 miles of Interstate 90 in Washington State from the waterfront in Seattle to the edge of desert grasslands in Central Washington. Spectacular alpine scenery, connected wildlife habitat, world-class recreation and vibrant communities ensure a long-term balance between people and nature.

In July, EnviroIssues staff assisted the Multnomah County Library in ongoing efforts to upgrade materials to a new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag system, which will give patrons the ability to check out their own materials and allow staff to spend more time on the floor. EnviroIssues employees from the Portland office spent a morning at the county’s Sellwood-Mooreland Library, adding RFID tags to children’s books and scanning them into the catalog system (and reading some, too!). Time spent volunteering helped the library system accomplish the task of upgrading more than two million books and other materials at its Central Library and 18 branch locations by the end of the year.

The Oregon Food Bank (OFB) serves the Portland metropolitan area and an entire network of 935 hunger relief agencies throughout the state of Oregon and Clark County, Washington. Oregon is ranked third nationally for hunger and malnutrition, a situation which has only been exacerbated by the current economic downturn.

In July, seven inspired EnviroIssues staff helped Passages Northwest at the mid-point of their busy summer season by cleaning and organizing the gear room and food prep areas, helping with essential yard work and serving as assistant grocery shoppers to provision 100+ students heading out on one of Passages Northwest’s summer courses! In addition, our team got a small taste of what each participant on a Passages Northwest course experiences. We began our day with an opening circle led by the fantastic Passages Northwest staff and closed by creating a human sculpture describing the day. We enjoyed supporting Passages Northwest’s work to inspire courage and leadership in middle and high school girls in our community!

EnviroIssues employees teamed up with the Pike Market Child Care & Preschool in May to help clean up the preschool’s facilities. Along with PMCCP’s director, everyone had a great time dusting, sorting, moving, and getting their hands dirty to support the preschool. PMCCP’s overall goal is to make high quality preschool available to all children, providing families with support and encouragement. Families pay on a sliding fee scale based on family size and income and more than 75 percent of the families receive financial assistance. As a great social service right across the street from EnviroIssues, we look forward to continued work with the preschool!

Consistently ranked as one of the best children’s hospitals in the country by U.S. World & News Report, Children’s serves as the largest pediatric and adolescent academic medical referral center for the largest landmass of any children’s hospital in the country (Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho). For more than 100 years, Children’s has been delivering superior patient care and advancing new treatments through pediatric research. Their mission is “We believe all children have unique needs and should grow up without illness or injury. With the support of the community and through our spirit of inquiry, we will prevent, treat and eliminate pediatric disease.”

EnviroIssues’ volunteer role will be working with the grounds crew (landscaping work). Children’s grounds are part of the hospital’s healing environment for patients and their families. They provide respite and a beautiful sanctuary for people going through very difficult times.

A dozen dedicated EnviroIssues employees and several of their partners and family members got out their work gloves, rolled up their sleeves and spent an afternoon digging in the dirt at Seattle Works Day! One of Seattle’s largest volunteer events, Seattle Works Day assembles 1,200 volunteers in neighborhoods all over Seattle. This year, Seattle Works volunteers collectively contributed over 4,000 volunteer hours! Team EnviroIssues spent the afternoon pulling weeds, spreading mulch and maintaining the food bank garden plot at Angel Morgan P-Patch in Columbia City. The Angel Morgan P-Patch is one of Seattle’s largest P-Patches; it sprung out of a long term neighborhood effort to renovate a previously unusable area. It has become a community gathering place, providing a space for people to connect with each other and learn more about gardening.

Treehouse's six core programs – Tutoring, Educational Advocacy, College and Career Planning, Little Wishes, Summer Camp and the Wearhouse – give foster children a real childhood as well as hope for the future. Treehouse programs offer kids in foster care what all children so desperately need: a safe place to dream.

Since 1988, Treehouse has filled the gaps for kids in foster care, providing services that no other agency addresses: money for extra-curricular activities and summer camp, professional educational support services, resources to fully participate in the everyday activities of growing up, clothing and supplies to help them fit in at school.

In June, seven EnviroIssues staff members participated in Water 1st International’s annual fundraiser Carry 5 Walk for Water. Each of our seven staff members filled a 5 gallon container with water from Lake Washington and carried it 5 kilometers, the average distance traveled by people in poor countries who lack access to safe, convenient water supplies. Our team experienced firsthand the true burden of gathering water, finishing the event wet and tired. Despite the hard work, participants had fun and helped the walk raise over $26,000 for Water 1st projects in India, Bangladesh, Honduras, and Ethiopia!