Connect with Us: Online Coffee Dates with Friends!

One of the three program areas driving the mission of Friends is Thriving Communities which exemplifies our values of giving back, supporting, and protecting our communities.

For those of you who have met Michel, our Director of Philanthropy, you know that she has a personal and professional zeal for thriving communities and socializing. As Michel shifted to virtual meetings and communications last week, she decided to pair up a board challenge: to connect all our board members through ZOOM video conferencing. Five days later, we held a ZOOM meeting with all staff, most of our 13-member board, some of our children, and even a few special pets. After witnessing the joy of connecting and sharing, which was probably as beneficial for Michel as it was for our board, Michel decided to set up weekly coffee dates for anyone in our organization.

It was telling this story to one of our long-time members, that prompted the action to give back.

Thriving communities means reaching into our community to volunteer, provide our expertise where it is most helpful, and take action to share resources. On that promise, you will find an intro to Zoom in the attached PowerPoint and PDF.

In addition to the information, Michel is setting up Zoom calls for any members who want to learn how to ZOOM and connect with Friends and beyond!  Zoom calls will be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 10 am. Click on the day that works for you, register and we’ll send you the link to join us!

We remain humble to continue our work, and recognize we have something to give. We can do what we know – connect and listen to our members, supporting you as you have supported us.

We hope you will join us!

The Friends of the San Juans do such a wonderful job of keeping on top of things like the transit of freighters through the Straits and their impact on whales as well as protecting our environment. Jim and I fell in love with the islands, the wildlife, and fishing. We hope to preserve it, not only for our family but for other families, well into the future.

Glen and Deb Bruels

members, San Juan Island