Giving Tuesday is an annual celebration of our non-profit service organizations and a time to encourage you to donate to support them. It is said that non-profits receive 80% of their annual contributions between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so now is the time when they desperately need you to join in and get them set up for another year of action. Giving Tuesday is a great day to spend a few minutes getting your annual giving done.
Eight organizations active in Wallingford are participating in Giving Tuesday. If you would like to help any of these we’ve listed below, you can click on the organization name to go to their website and look for the donate button. Some of them have provided a special Giving Tuesday page, which has a highlighted link in the description below.
Assistance League of Seattle transforms the lives of children and adults through community programs. Operation School Bell program works to remove barriers to education for under-resourced students by providing them with new clothes and supplies. The Enrichment Scholarship Program provides scholarships for middle schoolers to attend inspiring summer camps. Financial Aid for Education program provides tuition and support for adults working to earn a college degree. The Assistance League of Seattle funds their work, in part, through a Thrift Shop which is staffed entirely by volunteers and located at 1415 N 45th St.
Boys & Girls Club provides support to young folks in the community through an after-school program and summer day camps. The Wallingford Club is located at 1310 N 45th St. They offer separate elementary school-age and teen programs. The after-school programs include homework assistance, arts and crafts and gym activities. Small group programs include activities such as drama, chess, photography, athletic instruction, cooking and reading games. The summer programs also include age-appropriate field trips and lunch. You can also donate at this special webpage
Family Works operates both a Resource Center and a Food Bank next door to the Wallingford Branch Library at 1501 N 45th. The Resource Center hosts guided playgroups for children in English, Spanish and Japanese, referral to family support services, parenting classes, nutrition classes and a Community Closet where parents can pick up clothes and toys for their children. The Food Bank provides access to a wide variety of fresh produce and groceries, including baby food, three days a week. It also provides emergency food boxes that can be picked up at other hours, grocery delivery to the homebound and kid-friendly sack meals that are distributed to elementary students on Friday afternoons for the weekend.
Historic Wallingford is an all-volunteer neighborhood organization with the mission of fostering an awareness of and appreciation for Wallingford’s history and architecture. Your support helps them connect residents and visitors with local history through activities like a neighborhood history trivia night, an architectural treasure hunt, lectures on architecture and building sustainability, and a digital-photo collecting initiative called Snapshot Wallingford. Resources for caring for
older homes have been offered through the Wallingford Historic Homes Fair and the Remodel & Restore Workshop and Home Tour. Recently, Historic Wallingford has completed a significant effort to nominate part of Wallingford as a National Register Historic District. Initiatives in 2023 focus on celebrating Wallingford, with beautification activities like neighborhood clean-ups and utility box art, as well as short videos showcasing Wallingford stories and another self-guided exploration of Wallingford. Learn more about the organization at its website and sign up for the monthly e-newsletter by sending an email to [email protected].
Solid Ground is an advocacy and social service organization that focuses on issues such as housing and homelessness, hunger and nutrition instruction, transportation services, advocacy for persons needing to access public benefits and training in financial skills. Solid Ground developed and operates six buildings that were surplused when the Navy left the Sand Point Naval Air Station, now Magnuson Park, and new townhomes and apartments on the Sand Point site, for a total of 175 housing units. It also operates a shelter for families leaving domestic violence situations and a family shelter that offers short-term housing in apartments. The housing services include case management and community resource and support services with the aim of finding permanent housing for the families as soon as possible. Solid Ground operates the free downtown circulator bus and the ACCESS bus service that provides bus service for elderly and disabled folks who can’t rely on the Metro bus system.
Stone Soup Theatre is dedicated to creating and continuing to create a space where our youth can perform and develop their acting skills. We provide drama education enrichment programs at our location in the Wallingford Presbyterian Church and to public and private schools in and around the greater Seattle area. Our goal is to expand our young actors’ imagination through performance within our Youth Conservatory, Stone Soup Kids, Stone Soup Ensemble and after-school programs.
Tilth Alliance works in community with Washington farmers, gardeners and eaters to build a sustainable, healthy and equitable food future. We do this by promoting organic and sustainable practices using farms, gardens and kitchens as classrooms where people from all backgrounds can learn to grow, prepare and eat food. The Tilth Alliance operates gardens at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford, McAuliffe Park in Kirkland, and the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Bradner Gardens Park in south Seattle. It operates a Gardener’s Hotline and teaches classes for educators and gardeners on topics like vegetable gardening, food preservation and cooking, permaculture, and urban livestock. Tilth also runs school break, weekend and summer gardening camps for pre-K, elementary school age and early teens and seeks to create long-term change in our food system by advocating for the adoption of organic, regenerative, and sustainable agricultural practices.
Wallingford Community Senior Center is a senior-focused community center serving the NE Seattle area. WCSC is located on the first floor of the Good Shepherd Center and offers a wide range of classes, discussion and game groups, lectures, events, excursions, and social services. Some of its most popular programs are the EnhanceFitness exercise classes, yoga, and home-cooked community lunches. Throughout the week there’s a crowd for bridge, Mah Jong, scrabble, and other activities. An active group works on its P-Patch
come Spring. WCSC has its own social worker who is a geriatric mental health specialist providing counseling and support. She assists elders and their adult children as they care for their parents. WCSC has many volunteer opportunities, like assisting with serving lunches, tech mentoring, office support, event planning, and more. All are welcome at WCSC, no matter your age or background. You can also donate at their special webpage.