The Port Orchard Jingle Bell Run is a festive 5K event that raises funds and awareness for America’s top cause of disability: arthritis. Participants tie jingle bells to their shoelaces and wear festive attire as they stroll or run through the streets of downtown Port Orchard. It is one of more than 100 Jingle Bell […]
recognition
Posted inCommunity News
Langer Smith Family and Kitsap Bank Recognized for Longtime Generosity
The family of Helen Langer Smith and Kitsap Bank were recently recognized with philanthropy awards for their decades-long generosity and loyal support of Martha & Mary. The awards were given during the organization’s annual Donor Appreciation Reception, which recognizes the important role that donors play in caring for the seniors, children and their families that […]
Posted inGarden
Get The Dirt — On Home Gardening
This coming January, I will turn 70 years old. What a glorious age to be. I retired from WSU Kitsap Extension at the age of 67 and continued writing this column and other pieces for WestSound Magazine magazine. This past summer, my husband, Pat, and I hooked up our 30-foot travel trailer to our Ford […]
Posted inAt Home
Why You Should Buy Fair Trade Products
Fair Trade is an alternative way of doing business — one that builds equitable, long-term partnerships between consumers in North America and producers in developing regions. When purchasing a Fair Trade item, you can buy with confidence knowing it means the goods were produced under regulated standards designed to prevent poverty, poor labor conditions and […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Unsung Hero — Hazel Bellinger (and Jackson)
Hazel Bellinger started volunteering with the Humane Society of Mason County in August 2012 after retiring from a 35-year career with the Kitsap County 911 Center. Prior to that, she was a volunteer and then a board member at Kitsap Humane Society for 16 years. At KHS, her main responsibility as a volunteer was to […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Unsung Hero — Kol Medina
Kol Medina has been serving as the executive director for Kitsap Community Foundation since 2012. Though his fingers are on nearly all the activities of the small organization, his primary role is to lead the nonprofit and serve as the spokesperson, develop partnerships and collaborations with other nonprofits and businesses, grow and steward the donor […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Unsung Hero — David Shurick
David Shurick, a Poulsbo Police Department officer for 15 years, is credited with the launch of Kitsap County’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). The team, which today has 33 crisis intervention officers, receives special training to help minimize the use of force in crisis situations, with the goal of reducing incarceration and stigmatization of people with […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Unsung Heroes — Chris and Debbie Clark
Chris and Debbie Clark founded Children of the Nations (COTN) in 1995. A fifth-generation missionary born in Japan and raised in Liberia and the United States, Chris had worked for Youth for Christ for 10 years. Debbie, who grew up in Edmonds, worked as a special education teacher for eight years. After traveling to Sierra […]
Posted inFeatured
Unsung Hero — Julie Ann Gustanski
Julie Ann Gustanski is a founding member (together with Vernon Young, Eric Guenther and Mike Paul, Jr.) of the Greater Gig Harbor Foundation. All of her work for the foundation — including, currently, as the CEO — has been volunteer service. Prior to her current role, Gustanski served as the first treasurer, then as president […]