Gesa, a community-focused credit union, today announced the recipients of its Local Heroes Grant Program, which provides grant funds to organizations that support Local Heroes within the community. In the program’s second year, Gesa will award more than $500,000 in grants to 43 organizations across Washington state. The top earning organizations will receive upwards of $50,000 to support their individual needs.
Gesa’s Local Heroes Grant Program provides grants to organizations in the state of Washington that support any of Gesa’s outlined Local Heroes populations, including firefighters, law enforcement, teachers, healthcare workers, and veterans. This year’s recipients were selected by the Gesa Community Foundation. “These Local Heroes make our communities across Washington state better and we’re honored to support them,” said Angie Brotherton, Executive Director of the Gesa Community Foundation. “The applications we received were truly inspiring, and we were moved by each group’s commitment to serving our communities. We’re very appreciative of the selfless work that these organizations do and we’re thankful for their work.” Recipients of this year’s Local Heroes Grant Program include: Benton City • Benton County Fire Protection District #2 Burien • St. Anne Hospital Foundation Chelan • Chelan Fire & Rescue College Place • College Place Fire Department East Wenatchee • Kenroy Elementary School Eltopia • Service Peace Warriors Kennewick • Tri-City Metro Drug Taskforce • Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association Chapter 11-6 • Therapeutic Riding of Tri-Cities Lynnwood • Meadowdale High School Moses Lake • Moses Lake Police Department Pasco • Tri-Cities Diversity & Inclusion Council • Columbia Basin College Foundation • Young Officers on Fire Poulsbo • Martha & Mary Prosser • Friends of Disabled Veterans Richland • STEM Like Me! • Mid-Columbia Ballet • Richland Firefighters Community Outreach Program Seattle • Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra • Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center • Seattle Public Schools • Medic One Foundation • Dress for Success Seattle Shoreline • Ridgecrest Elementary School Library Silverdale • Greater Kitsap Chamber of Commerce Spokane • Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture • Mead High School • The ISAAC Foundation • Free Rein Therapeutic Riding • Whitworth University Military & Veterans Resource Center Sunnyside • Sunnyside Police Department Union Gap • Union Gap Police Department Walla Walla • City of Walla Walla Fire Department • Walla Walla County Fire District #4 • Columbia Walla Walla County Fire District 2 • Volunteers Love Serving Veterans Wenatchee • Chelan County Mountain Rescue • Alatheia Therapeutic Riding Center • Wenatchee Rescue Mission West Richland • William Wiley Elementary School • Leona Libby Middle School Yakima • Yakima County Fire District #4 With every swipe of a Local Heroes co-branded Gesa Visa® Debit Card, Gesa members earn funds designated for grants in that card’s Local Heroes category. Funds accumulate over the course of a year and are disbursed annually. For more information about Gesa’s Local Heroes Grant Program, including eligibility requirements, visit https://www.gesa.com/category/local-heroes/.
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3 Rivers Community Foundation (3RCF) has launched an online giving platform for holiday community giving. The ‘grant catalog” makes community giving easy for everyone and welcomes all sizes of donations.
“This is the first time we have offered a “crowd-funding style” of community giving. There are twenty-six participating area nonprofit organizations in the catalog that will benefit greatly from online giving this holiday season. These are organizations we support and have vetted through an application process, evaluation, and interviews,” said 3RCF’s Chief Executive Officer, Abbey Cameron. Each nonprofit listed is local and supports a wide variety of causes. From arts to youth programs, there are many great organizations to choose from. The website can be found at www.3rcf.org/grantcatalog. “Our goal is to raise not only money, but awareness of all the wonderful and caring programs within the Tri-Cities,” emphasized Cameron. “And we believe there’s an added joy to giving this time of year.” This month, 3RCF will distribute a total of 59 grants to area nonprofits for a total of $270,000. They hope to attach another $100,000 through this first-time online platform. To learn more about philanthropy in our communities visit www.3rcf.org or contact us at office@3rcf.org or 509-735-5559. Gesa, a community-focused credit union, today announced it will partner with Local Heroes groups across Washington for its 7th annual Stock-the-Sock Holiday Toy Drive. From now until December 19, community members are encouraged to donate toys in the oversized holiday stockings found at every Gesa branch. All donations will be donated to Local Hero initiatives across the state.
“We are so grateful for all the care and compassion that Local Heroes provide for our communities, which is why this year we are honored to partner with several groups to gift toys to those who need it most,” said Angie Brotherton, Assistant Vice President of Community Relations and Impact. “The Stock-the-Sock drive is an initiative I look forward to every year, and the impact we make every holiday season wouldn’t be possible without our generous members. Through their toy donations this year, we hope to be able to make an even larger impact on the lives of many this holiday season.” Toys collected at Gesa branches in Lynnwood, Kirkland, Seattle, Tukwila, Puyallup, and Tacoma will be distributed by Sea Mar Community healthcare workers, while those in Bremerton will be shared by Peninsula Community Health Services. In Yakima, toys will be given out by the Yakima Memorial Foundation, and firefighters from the City of Walla Walla Co. Fire will pass out toys received from the Walla Walla location. Education workers from Communities in Schools of Tri-Cities will distribute toys from the Tri-Cities branch locations, while branches in Moses Lake and Wenatchee will be teaming up to support Communities in Schools of North Central Washington. In Spokane and Pullman, toys received will be shared by Operation Spokane Heroes, benefiting local military and veteran communities. “This year Sea Mar anticipates distributing over 15,000 toys to more than 5,000 low-income families,” said Jennifer Marroquin, Toy Donation Coordinator. “It is because of community partners such as Gesa Credit Union, we are able to provide toys to thousands of underprivileged children within nine Western Washington counties during the holiday season that would otherwise go without.” This year, Gesa’s goal is to collect 500 toys across Washington. Those who wish to stay up to date with the toy drive goal can visit the tracker posted on Gesa Credit Union’s social media channels. Examples of gifts to donate include stuffed animals, Lego sets, dolls and prizes. For more information about Gesa Credit Union’s involvement in the community, visit https://www.gesa.com/community. BNSF Railway has designated the Reimann Industrial Center as one of its Certified Sites. The Reimann is the first BNSF Certified Site in the State of Washington.
This month, BNSF announced it would add the Reimann and three other sites to its roster of Certified Sites. Nationally, BNSF has certified 33 sites. The newest sites are Dodge City, Kansas; Seward, Nebraska; Upton, Wyoming; and Pasco. “BNSF’s site certification puts the railroad’s stamp of approval on the Reimann Industrial Center. The Port is pleased and grateful to have earned this designation,” said Executive Director Randy Hayden. “The Port of Pasco is a multi-modal inland port district that proudly supports the movement of people, freight, and agricultural commodities via rail, roads, water, and air.” The railroad’s Industrial Site Certification program is a rigorous process that identifies “optimal rail-served sites” via an in-depth review process. BNSF often works with a company in the early stages of its site selection process to help ensure freight mobility. According to BNSF’s website, the certified site designation helps its freight customers reduce development time, increase speed to market and diminish upfront development risk at rail-served industrial sites. “BNSF’s Site Certification Program creates tremendous value for customers who are seeking a rail-served industrial site by accelerating the process required for economic growth and development,” said Chris Danos, Assistant Vice President, Economic Development. “A customer who builds a new rail-served facility at one of these sites is expected to save six to nine months of valuable construction time as a result of this shovel-ready program,” said Danos. The Port and BNSF started the site certification process in August of 2021. BNSF utilized Strategic Development Group to conduct an economic development analysis of the Reimann, including a site visit in September of 2022. A Site Evaluation Report was completed by SDG in February 2022. In July the firm officially recommended the Reimann become a BNSF Certified Site. Port of Pasco established the 300-acre Reimann Industrial Center in the fall of 2019. An engineering and market analysis master plan called for the site to be rail served since it was located across the street from the BNSF rail yard. In 2020 Darigold, Inc. announced it would construct a rail-served dairy processing facility on 150 acres of the Reimann. The facility will become the largest dairy processor in North America. The $650 million project broke ground in September 2022 with completion expected in early 2024. The Port of Pasco will construct more than $25 million in public infrastructure. Reconstruction of Railroad Avenue and the installation of a municipal water line will begin in December. Construction of the port-owned rail line will begin in 2023. Franklin County, City of Pasco, Franklin PUD, and Cascade Natural Gas are also making infrastructure improvements to serve the Reimann. The Port of Pasco has several rail-served industrial sites including Pasco Processing Center and Big Pasco Industrial Center. At Big Pasco, the Port provides river access with a marine terminal that serves barge traffic that uses the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The Tri-Cities Airport is owned and operated by the Port. In 2019 the airport handled more than 400,000 passenger enplanements. |
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April 2024
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