Chelan Valley Nonprofits unite for first-ever open house

CHELAN – Nonprofits in the Chelan Valley will have the opportunity to come together to network, foster partnerships, and raise awareness of available services at the first-ever Chelan Valley Non-Profit Open House on Wednesday, October 16, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Chelan Senior Center.

Nonprofits may still sign up to participate by emailing lccscouncil@gmail.com or online at https://Nonprofitopenhouse.rsvpify.com.

The event, co-sponsored by the Lake Chelan Community Services Council and the Chelan Senior Center, is free and open to the public.

At the open house, community members can connect with local nonprofits, explore volunteer opportunities, and learn about available services.

The Lake Chelan Community Services Council's mission is to provide leadership and resources to address significant community needs.

Over the years, the Lake Chelan Community Services Council has donated to a large number of organizations. The council invites organizations to come and talk to them about what they do, what project they need help with, what their budget looks like, etc. longtime volunteer Mary Murphy said. 

Then, the council deliberates and decides if they can give to the project and how much.

"And we thought, well, you know, a lot of these nonprofits need to know what each other is doing so they can partner with them," Murphy said. "You know, do projects together, support one another, refer people to them. And so that's what we started talking about."

"So many people say, 'Oh, I didn't know about that,' or 'I didn't know that they did this','" she said. "And so we think this is a great opportunity for people to just come, like a big shopping mall, and they can see, you know, people that are doing all these wonderful things in their community."

At the beginning of the event, Council President Kathy Miller will introduce each organization and share its mission, what it does, and its location in the room.

"So it's a way of just introducing these organizations to each other without having each of the members come up and do that on their own," Murphy said. "Because that would take a lot more time, and we want people to be able to mingle in the community, to mingle and talk with these organizations. Because I think that's where really the magic happens."

The council hopes to make this an annual event because organizations change and leadership changes. Collaboration and support between the nonprofits is critically important, Murphy said.

"And having just an in face, you know, in person experience doing that rather than email and phone, we think, is great," she said. "Just much more personal." 

Quinn Propst: 509-731-3590 or quinn@ward.media.