Each month, Thurston Community Media (TCMedia)’s Mission Nonprofit connects with local organizations and agencies that positively impact our communities. In February 2025, Mission Nonprofit host Megan Murphy Ross sat down with Samantha Ezpinoza, executive director for Thurston County Inclusion.
Founded in 2019, Thurston County Inclusion is a local nonprofit with a mission to bring youth ages 5 through 21 with or without intellectual disabilities together for engagement. Summer camps, programs and events are held year-round.
The nonprofit got its start as a unified club out of Olympia High School. One of the high school students, Natalie Stagnone, saw a need for summer camp opportunities for youth with intellectual or developmental disabilities, explains Samantha. So, they put together a program that became Thurston County Inclusion.
Thurston County Inclusion Events and Programs
From Hot Wheels and trains to dancing and art, the Thurston County Inclusion group puts on at least two to three events each month. Registration for the events happens two weeks prior and can be done on the Thurston County Inclusion website.
These events are meant to be fun and engaging for the youth.
All events are free thanks to donors, grants and sponsors. You can donate on the website. They all need volunteers at every event and are always looking for fun individuals who enjoy working with youth.
“Our Runway Revolution, which is March 15,” shares Samantha, “and we’re super excited about [it] and that’s a fundraising event but also in addition to it being our fundraising event…we’re hoping [it will be] a community event that’s just, we’re all championing inclusion right now, and so really having a bunch of models – we have 30 this year – strutting the runway and we’re calling them our inclusion ambassadors and so they’re just sharing what inclusion means to them, what living in an inclusion community is like and what it should be and so it’s just a really fun time.”
The Thurston County Inclusion Summer Camp registration begins in May. Each week is a different theme. And, like their other events, the summer camp is free. Drop off and one-on-one support is available.
For more information, watch the full video above or visit the Thurston County Inclusion website.
You can watch Mission Nonprofit on channel 22 on Sundays at 3:30 p.m., Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 10 a.m. You can also watch on TCMedia website, Video On-Demand or our Roku channel. To learn more about what TCMedia does, visit the Thurston Community Media YouTube channel or the TC Media website and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
