Whidbey Community Foundation celebrates 10 years of local giving, grants

More than $5 million in grants has moved through the Whidbey Community Foundation in just a decade, making the Langley-based group one of the island’s most important local funding engines as it marks 10 years of giving.

The foundation, founded in 2016, said it now stewards nearly $6 million in assets across more than 30 separate funds. Its work has touched the island’s nonprofit network in concrete ways, from food security and housing stability to youth services, child care and local climate solutions, areas where small, recurring grants can keep organizations operating when larger state or federal dollars do not reach far enough.

Jessie Gunn, who has worked with the foundation since 2019 and has served as executive director since 2022, discussed the milestone in Langley with board member Jane Spalding at Coffee at Dawn Cafe. The foundation describes itself as Whidbey’s only island-wide community foundation, a role that puts it at the center of donor-advised giving, nonprofit support and community investment across Island County.

Its mission is straightforward and broad at the same time: “to improve the quality of life on Whidbey Island by providing support for the nonprofit sector, assisting donors to build and preserve enduring assets for charitable purposes, and meeting community needs through financial awards.” That mix matters on an island where groups such as Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores often serve as first responders to local need, and where a relatively young institution can still have an outsized effect.

The foundation’s recent reporting shows that influence is still growing. By late 2024, it said it was stewarding more than $6.1 million in philanthropic assets and had issued almost $200,000 in grants since January 2024. Another report said its grants to nonprofits had surpassed $2.6 million since 2017. The foundation has also said most of its grants do not exceed $10,000, a sign that much of its impact is spread across smaller, practical awards rather than a few headline-size gifts.

That pattern helps explain why the anniversary is more than a ceremonial marker. The foundation’s February 2026 newsletter celebrated “10 Years of Whidbey Community Foundation: Celebrating a Decade of Local Giving and Impact,” while recent materials have continued to highlight grantmaking, site visits and support for organizations like Good Cheer. For island nonprofits that rely on steady, local backing, the milestone is a reminder that the foundation has become a permanent part of Whidbey’s civic infrastructure.