Each month, Thurston Community Media (TCMedia)’s Mission Nonprofit connects with local organizations and agencies that are making positive impacts in our communities. This month, Mission Nonprofit host Robert Kam takes us on a journey of some of the nonprofits highlighted over the last 12 months.
Mentor Washington
Mentor Washington is a nonprofit that works with the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), serving the entire state of Washington, including the 39 counties and 29 tribes. Their services include faux-menting, and providing quality assurance to mentoring programs across the state of Washington, shares Miles. The Mentor Washington website can pair volunteers to needs in their area. Or, if you are a youth looking for mentoring, they can pair you with a program in your area.
Our Ark
The nonprofit Our Ark helps break the cycle of homelessness for youth and young adults ages 13-25 in Thurston County, shares Danny Burkett, founder and CEO of Our Ark. Their work includes advocacy, education and peer mentorship.
Olympia Historical Society
The Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum is a nonprofit working to preserve local history, including the preservation of the Bigelow House, believed to be the oldest house in the area. During 2022 they asked for people to share their stories for the Olympia Armory Storytelling Project.
North Thurston Kiwanis Club
The North Thurston Kiwanis Club works to be a positive influence in the community. One of their biggest events here in Thurston County is the Day of Champions, where over 650 students with disabilities do a parade and then compete in 19 modified track and field events.
C.A.R.E.
C.A.R.E (Christlike Agrotourism for Racial Equality) has a mission to create a safe space for healing and hospitality for people of color and allies of equality, explains President, DeeDee Anderson. They are developing an 8-acre co-op they can use for their programs. One such program is a summer re-entry program for incarcerated youth that was the focus of their fundraising in 2022.
Arbutus Folk School
The Arbutus Folk School is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving traditional ways of making things through educational classes taught by highly-skilled artists. They are excited about expanding to a larger space to have more room for local artists to share their craft with others.
Olympia Chorus
The Olympia Chorus is part of Sweet Adelines International, a nonprofit organization for women singers founded in 1945 to preserve the art of barbershop singing through education, performance and competition. Monies raised helps support the group, including purchasing the copyrights to all music they perform.
Dancing Dragons
Dancing Dragons, is a line dancing nonprofit in Thurston County. Maddie Bee started Dancing Dragons as a dance team for competition. Dancing Dragons competes in two of the circuits, United Country Western Dance Council (UCWDC), which is local and international, and World Dance Masters (WDM), which has one competition in Florida and one in Blackpool, England. All levels are welcome from beginner to advanced.
Window Seat Media
Window Seat Media is a local nonprofit that focuses on oral history and storytelling, with a mission to use these to spark conversation, connection and social change in our area. Their projects include a variety of different ways to tell a story, could be a podcast, dance, theater, etc. And their goal is to then create conversations round those subjects.
The Washington Center for the Performing Arts
The Washington Center for the Performing Arts opened in 1985, the legacy of the 1924 Liberty Theater. In 2022, The Washington Center went through a huge summer-long refurbishment of the interior. Their mission is to, “inspire audiences and artists of all ages through live performances, enriching the vibrancy of our community.”
OlyFilm
Originally called the Olympia Film Collective, OlyFilm has been fostering, promoting and educating indie filmmakers in Olympia since 2012. In the past 10 years, OlyFilm has grown to a large nonprofit that helps indie filmmakers bring their scripts to life.
The JOLT News
2022 was the first full year for The JOLT News, a new, nonprofit media website founded by Danny Stusser. “Over the past few years, I became lonesome for news,” shares Danny on why he started The JOLT News. “We didn’t have much in the way of local coverage after about 2005, 2010 in Thurston County.” And while they do have advertisements, The JOLT News also relies on grants and reader donations in order to continue their mission.
To learn more about these nonprofits, watch the above video and visit their websites.
You can watch Mission Nonprofit on channel 77 on Sundays at 4:30 p.m., Tuesdays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. You can also watch on TCMedia.org, Video On-Demand or our Roku channel. To learn more about what TCMedia does, visit the Thuston Community Media YouTube channel or the TC Media website and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
