Thank you for your gifts that will support operations during our slowest programmatic season. The Autumn Appeal ends Nov. 30th and we will keep the campaign open to add checks and online gifts recieved in the next couple weeks.
Special Thank you to our match pool donors Nancy Nordhoff,
Peter and Melissa Evans, and Linda S Park.
At the Whidbey Institute, we nurture the conditions for transformative learning, healing, and growth in service to a future in which people and planet thrive together.
Your gift at this time supports COVID-impacted operations to care for our guests, program leaders, land, forest, gardens, trails, facilities, and business administration. Your gift will help us enter the winter with the funds needed to weather our slowest programmatic season.
What your gift supports
We steward 106-acre conservation forest campus on Whidbey Island with public access to integrated gardens and a four-mile trail network, and lodging and gathering space that can host up to 43 guests for life-changing programming during normal (pre-COVID) operations.
We partner with a network of program leaders working in the areas of generative leadership, ecosystem vitality, community resilience, and more to offer one-day and multi-day workshops, conferences, and retreats. Over our nearly 5 decades of operation (help us celebrate 50 years in 2022!), our community of thousands has held this place and one another with great care and kindness.
During COVID, our occupancy is reduced to 25. We want to maximize our opportunities to safely host leaders, learners, and community members of all ages and backgrounds. In this time of challenge and change, many people are in need of time to walk the trails and visit our gardens, to attend a program, to deepen their capacity to serve and create, and to rest, restore, and be nourished on the land.
Why we're asking for your support
You, our donors, have given generously this year and still we need to ask for your continued support as the Delta variant challenges us to reimagine our fall and winter programs. Gifts of every size are welcome and needed to meet our $85,000 goal. The first $55,000 given will be matched and together will give us the $140,000 we need by the end of the year.
Today, due to COVID impacts, our current hosting capacity is less than half what it was in 2019. The need for single-occupancy lodging and a reduction in the number of people who can be hosted together in the Farmhouse and Granny’s mean that we are hosting groups of 12 to 20 people, one group at a time. Our earned income from programs in 2021 is 85 percent less than previously projected because of COVID-19.
Since COVID-19 started, our staff has been reduced by 40%. At times, hours were cut in half or lower. We can't reduce team capacity any further without compromising our integral operations. In addition to supporting current operations through the persistent challenges of new COVID waves, the staff is also dreaming into the path ahead, researching possibilities, listening to our community, and prototyping new ways to serve the emerging future.
We have been grateful for the support of our generous donors and governmental programs including Shared Work unemployment, PPP grants, and SBA assistance.
Give online or mail a check to Whidbey Institute, PO Box 57 Clinton, WA 98236 and we will add your gift to this campaign.
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