Dear Camano Center Friends, If you are considering supporting the Camano Center’s “Safe & Secure” project or any other project in SCAF’s SCGIVE on-line campaign on Tuesday, November 30, here are a few tips to make your donation dollars go even further! These prizes apply to on-line donations only.  We are available 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday if you want us to help you with the on-line donation process for any project.  Follow this link to find the Camano Center’s  project on-line:  https://scgive.org/2021_camanocenter  If you want to donate and must write a check, we can accept your check in person between  9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 30.  Checks must be made out to SCAF (Stanwood Camano Area Foundation).  We will need full contact information from you so that you will receive your donation receipt from the Stanwood Camano Area Foundation.  You are welcome to donate to any project or multiple projects.    The first 20 $50 donations made between midnight and 8 a.m. will be matched by RE/MAX ELEVATE TIP ONE: If you are planning on donating $50, shoot for this time:  Donate between 12:00 AM and 8:00 AM Tuesday if you are planning on donating $50 (since we are trying to be in the first 20 donations, its best if you can donate as close to midnight as possible for this one). This would help the Center (or other projects) be eligible for the Early Bird Prize (Sponsored by RE/MAX Elevate).  Fund matching for the first 10 $100 donations from unique* donors given between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. will be matched by Lenz Enterprises TIP TWO: If you are planning on donating $100, shoot for this time:  Donate at noon or soon after if you are planning on donating $100. This would help the Center be eligible for the Philanthropist Hour Prize (Sponsored by Lenz Enterprises)   Fund matching for the first 4 $250 donations from unique* donors given between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. will be matched by Coastal Community Bank TIP THREE:   If you are planning on donating $250, shoot for this time: Donate at 5:00 p.m. or soon after that if you are planning on donating $250 This would help the Center be eligible for the Happy Hour Prize (Sponsored by Coastal Community Bank)  Fund matching for the first $1,000 in donations between $100 and $250 made will be matched by Windermere Real Estate TIP FOUR: If you are planning on donating between $100 and $250, shoot for this time:  Donate between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM Tuesday for any amount between $100-$250.  This would help the Center be eligible for the Night Owl Prize (Sponsored by Windermere Real Estate) Follow this link to the SCGive website for more information on all the Camano Island and Stanwood area  #GivingTuesday projects  https://scgive.org/   *Unique donors mean different donors to the same project. In other words, if the same donor donates $100 twice to the same project during the Philanthropist Hour period, only one of the $100 donations will be eligible for the prize. However, the same donor can donate $100 each to different projects and have those all be eligible for the prize. Thank you for your support!

Premier Preview Cocktail Party
September 25, 2021, 4:30pm - 6:30pm  

at the Camano Center, 606 Arrowhead Road, Camano Island, WA  98282

Purchase your tickets for $45 each online at camanocenter.org/gala starting Monday, August 30^th. Ticket Price includes appetizers and 1 cocktail ticket (extra cocktail/drink tickets will be on sale at the event, as well as raffle tickets, etc.). 

ONLINE Super Silent Auction
Opens September 25th at 5:30 p.m. and closes September 29th at 9:00 p.m.

 Anyone can participate, and registration is FREE!

Registration link will be available early September through our website camanocenter.org/gala

Although our auction bidding will be completely online this year, we will be hosting an in-person Premier Preview Party on September 25, 2021.  This is a great opportunity to browse all of the auction items in person, enjoy hearty appetizers and a cocktail (or two!), participate in some fun games, socialize - AND be the first to view and participate in our annual Fund-A-Mission campaign! Tickets are limited so get them quick, starting August 30th! 

Our online Super Silent Auction (you must register for this separately) will be filled with trips, art, gift baskets, gift certificates and more!  Our online auction will open for bidding online the evening of September 25, 2021 (during the preview party!), and close on Wednesday, September 29^th at 9:00 p.m. Again, anyone can participate in the online super silent auction – and registration is free!  The items you purchase in the online auction will be available for pick up at the Camano Center beginning on Friday, October 1st, hours and additional dates to be announced. 

Please contact Cindy Hand at chand@camanocenter.org or by phone at 360-387-0222 if you need assistance purchasing Preview Party tickets or registering to bid in the online auction.  Thank you for your support!

Tickets are non-refundable, all proceeds directly benefit the mission of the Camano Center. Please note that we plan to hold this event following current covid protocols. We will make adjustments to the event if needed to keep our guests safe.

Welcome Aboard!

Join us for our 15th Annual Premier Fundraising Event   IN PERSON Premier Preview Cocktail Party, September 25, 2021 4:30pm - 6:30pm  at the Camano Center - 606 Arrowhead Road, Camano Island, WA  98282.
Tickets go on sale online Monday, August 30, 2021. See link for purchasing tickets at camanocenter.org/gala.

ONLINE Super Silent Auction Opens September 25, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. and closes September 29, 2021 at 9:00 p.m.  Anyone can participate, and registration is FREE.  Things will look a bit different this year! Our auction will be completely online this year - and our in person Premier Preview Cocktail Party on September 25, 2021 gives you the chance to browse all of the items in person, enjoy heavy appetizers and a cocktail (or two!), some fun games, lots of opportunity to socialize - AND the first chance to view and participate in our annual Fund-A-Mission campaign! Tickets are $45 each and are limited so get them quick!

Our online Super Silent Auction will be filled with trips, art, gift baskets, gift certificates and more!  Our online auction will open for bidding online the evening of September 25, 2021 (during the preview party!), and close on Wednesday, September 29, 2021. Again, anyone can participate in the online super silent auction – and registration is free! Registration will open in early September – the link will be available through our website at camanocenter.org/gala.

Items will be available for pick up at the Camano Center beginning on Friday, October 1st, hours and additional dates to be announced.

Last month I was able to report to you that we opened the store again on March 12^th. We are now going on our 8^th week of operations and things are really clipping along! I get a lot of questions about the store, so I thought I would answer some of them in this month’s newsletter. I have learned a lot about what it takes to maintain the daily/weekly influx of items and people, by working at the store so I feel much more capable of answering inquiries than I did when I first started!

Why is the Executive Director running the store? During the COVID shut down, many plans were put on hold or changed for many people. This includes the Manager, Assistant Manager, and staff of the thrift shop. As the director it became my responsibility to make the decision to open or not, and to get in and learn and run the place with mostly volunteers in-order to recover financially. This has been difficult, but invaluable to me as the director.

Why are you only open Fridays and Saturdays? For each day open it takes a minimum of 10 volunteers to cover the 2 shifts (10am-1pm and 1pm -4pm). In addition, my goal is to process all the donations coming in each day, before the day is complete. This takes another 8-10 volunteers to sort, clean, price and re-load the store floor. Some volunteers have chosen not to return due to COVID, or have moved on to other ventures. Bringing new volunteers in is a process that takes time.

Do I still need an appointment to bring my donations to you? No. We are no longer taking donations on an appointment basis. We take them on the days that we are open. Fridays and Saturdays 10am-4pm.

Why aren’t you accepting clothing? On occasion you will see signs that say “no clothes” or unfortunately, “no donations”.  My goal by having the processing happening during the open days, is to no longer have to say “no donations” (and we haven’t since being open) but right now we still have a back log of unprocessed clothing and linens that go back a long time. We need to clear it before just adding to the top of it again. The next important step is selling the items out on the floor, or we cannot continue to put more out. You will notice if you come in, that all clothing in the older building is $2 per piece no matter what it is…coat, 3 piece-suit, or jeans…$2. This is our hope to move clothing fast (which means you get a great deal!) so we can continue to take more and put more out.

Why don’t you just hire people so you can be open more, and make more money? The store used to be open 6 days a week which takes a tremendous amount of labor and planning (and higher expenses such as PUD, water, etc.) In being open a limited number of days, we are working smarter, not harder.

Currently the store is making more revenue in 2 days than it did in 8 days. The store is a non-profit that funds a big portion of the Camano Senior Services Association so this is a very important piece of the overall puzzle. Everything we save in expenses is more that we can invest in the programs and services to our community.

How can we help? This community is amazing. I hear this question more than any other! You can help by volunteering. You can help by spreading the word about the store and the center. You can help by donating items that we can feel good about passing onto someone else. (We unfortunately have a big garbage/dump bill to dispose of items that are broken, dirty/stained, or flat-out trash.  This hurts our bottom line the most), and you can help by shopping! You will be amazed at the store and how the items are new each day and priced to sell! For every load of yucky stuff, we get 5 loads of amazing things!

Thank you to the amazing group of volunteers and staff that have put in so many hours to help me get the store open and continued to run safely and efficiently. We have a fantastic group of men and women that do such important work!

Our shopping and donating hours are Friday and Saturday, 10:00am to 4:00pm.  Masks are mandatory to enter. Thank you for shopping and donating! Come in and see us!

Bonnie Eckley,
Executive Director