Keeping with tradition, the Foundation board held our annual retreat on Jan. 11. We began with a session where we celebrated our accomplishments of last year. We wrote down all the things we’re proud of on Post-it Notes and stuck them to a whiteboard. I collected them all and brought them home to transcribe.
For a small but mighty group, it’s important to celebrate all we have done, and last year it was a long list. Among the accomplishments are:
- Completion of our official name change across all areas of the Foundation
- Creation of a public service announcement on Bremerton-Kitsap Area Television
- Onboarded new board members (Welcome to Mandy and Eva!)
- Raised $10,000 at our annual Fall For Fish event
- Continued the internship program, including adding Seattle University students
- Hosted a Salmon Tour that brought new and returning visitors to the Preserve (and gathered great videos, too!)
- Fostered and solidified partnerships with organizations like GPC
- Started the Norm Winn Memorial Conservation Grants (the first awards were awarded this month!)
- Ended the legal dispute with the Mountaineers and began building a new relationship with our nearest neighbor
There are so many more accomplishments like the Big Tree Little Salmon Puppet Show, the removal of a lot of invasive English holly and other non-native plants from the Preserve, the first-ever yoga event at the Preserve, thousands of dollars in grants, multiple successful field trips … we could go on and on! This is a testament to our commitment to the health of not just the Preserve, but the entire Salish Sea region and our continuing commitment to the mission and vision of Keta Legacy Foundation.
At the end of the retreat, we set some priorities for this year. We’ll be talking more about those at the February board meeting and will update everyone as those conversations progress. As always, thank you for your continued support of our work and the work of so many great groups in our area.
– Mindy Roberts, Secretary