West Seattle, Washington
28 Saturday
Larry and Gini – “half of The Johnson Team” – are just two of many Prudential NW team members volunteering today in a multi-location food drive, all over the area. We found them at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) just as the drive was getting under way at 10 am; other collection sites include West Seattle Thriftway, PCC West Seattle (WSB sponsor), Jefferson Square Safeway, and the White Center (16th SW) Albertson’s. You can drop off nonperishable food donations at any of those sites till 2 this afternoon. They’re collecting diapers for WestSide Baby, too. 1:53 PM UPDATE: We checked in with the volunteers at PCC around noon – Jeni Desmond, Tanya Edwards, Lisa O’Farrell – and they already had shopping carts full of donated food:
Also at PCC, we found another donation-drive effort – not related to the Prudential food drive, but just steps away – you can donate to the Northwest Burn Foundation for “Give Burns the Boot”:
2nd from left, by the way, is former North Highline Fire Chief Scott LaVielle (that district handles White Center and the rest of the unincorporated area south of West Seattle). The Burn Foundation fundraiser, they told us, will continue outside PCC West Seattle till 4 pm.
#1 – Prudential Northwest Realty agents are collecting nonperishable food at three West Seattle supermarkets 10 am-2 pm tomorrow (Saturday) – PCC and Metropolitan Market (both WSB sponsors) and West Seattle Thriftway.
#2 – SoundYoga (WSB sponsor) is having its 2nd annual FUNdraiser walk for West Seattle Food Bank 1-4 pm tomorrow, from Jack Block Park to Alki Lighthouse and back, about 3 miles each way per SY’s announcement. $10 suggested donation (plus bring baby food, pet food, or condiments), kids and dogs welcome. info@soundyoga.com if you want to pre-register.
#3 – The annual Seattle CROP Hunger Walk is this Sunday, leaving from Alki UCC (6112 SW Hinds), register at 1 pm, walk starts at 1:30 pm. It’s a flat route, 3 miles round trip.
A comment just added to our original coverage of the Highland Park quadruple murder-suicide one week ago today has new information on how to help the family, so we’re spotlighting it here:
Thank you all for your kind words and compassion. The family is thankful and appreciative for all the support we’ve received from the community at large.
Several fundraisers are in the works and will be announced fairly soon. You can find the information/updates via Facebook event “The Phan/Harm Fundraiser”.
The family is in need of financial assistance for medical, funeral and other various expenses associated with the memorial services and ceremonies. If you are able and willing to contribute to the benevolent fund, please see the information below.
“The Thy Luellen Benevolent Account”
BECU Acct #: 3586082948Please include both Account Name and Number when making out a check. Deposits can be made at any BECU location with a deposit box, or by mail (address below). BECU members can deposit funds electronically by calling (800) 233-2328.
BECU
PO BOX 34044
SEATTLE, WA 98124-1044At this point, any amount helps.
As noted here earlier today, the Seattle Times (WSB partner) has spoken with the only family member who survived being shot (she’s out of the hospital); memorial services are set for this weekend.
Thanks to Eric for sharing information about one more event happening tonight in West Seattle, raising money for families of law-enforcement officers killed in the line of duty:
Frank Kempten, Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation, and Ted Nicoloudakis, owner of Bamboo Bar and Grill along with the Bamboo Family, are proud to partner up with the Behind the Badge Foundation to help the families of fallen heroes. Please join us (tonight) at Bamboo Bar and Grill for Entrees and Appetizers, with all proceeds going to the Behind the Badge Foundation. Bamboo Bar and Grill is located at 2806 Alki Ave SW.
A donation box will also be provided for additional donations. Please make checks payable to:
Behind the Badge Foundation
PO Box 2047
Issaquah, WA 98027-0091
Behind the Badge was a beneficiary of another West Seattle benefit back in February – a workout at CrossFit West Seattle in memory of SPD Officer Tim Brenton, the WSHS graduate murdered in Leschi last Halloween.
The folks working to create the Community Orchard of West Seattle are hoping that stack of cardboard along the southwestern fence of the South Seattle Community College campus will grow a lot bigger with donations – got some? It’s on the south edge of the blackberry-covered acre that will soon be cleared to make way for the orchard – we chatted there this morning with orchard volunteer Bruce Falzarano and Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle‘s Aviva Furman:
They were at the site because of a different project reaching a milestone this morning – an experimental corn patch using biochar (we’ll have that as a separate story). In the meantime, if you have cardboard to donate to help mulch the orchard site, Aviva says, just take it there (it’s alongside the southernmost edge of the SSCC parking lot, 6000 16th SW – you have to walk past a small outbuilding and you’ll see it along the orchard-to-be site) and drop it off! (They’ve been getting coffee grounds donated by Starbucks, too, and hope to ring the site with it – coffee grounds can be a great soil amendment.)
Great day to get your car washed – and to help out the West Seattle High School volleyball team, which is having a fundraiser at West Seattle Produce (on Fauntleroy south of Alaska) – go shop, and get your car scrubbed. They’re scheduled to be there till 3 pm.
Two unique fundraisers coming up in West Seattle before the end of the month – first one this Sunday, “Wine in the Woods,” benefiting forest-restoring Nature Consortium, whose Lisa Corbin shares the invite:
Nature Consortium, in partnership with 12th and Olive Wine Company, is hosting a wine tasting fundraiser in the West Duwamish Greenbelt on Sunday, September 26th from 3-6 pm. Enjoy performances from local musicians while you sample fine wines and take in the surrounding beauty of Seattle’s largest urban forest. Take home your commemorative wine glass as a reminder of your support of Nature Consortium!
See firsthand the amazing results of the hardworking volunteers who have transformed our vital urban forest from an impassable Himalayan Blackberry bramble to a lush area of native trees and understory plants. Suggested donation is $30 per person. You must be 21 to attend this event, and rsvp is required: Lisa@naturec.org or 206.923.0853
Location: West Duwamish Greenbelt, near the restoration site at 14th Ave SW and SW Holly Streets
(specific location details and parking directions upon RSVP)
We will move indoors in case of rain
Then on September 30th – one week from Thursday – you can see fashion from West Seattle boutiques rock the runway, in a fundraiser for the Gulf Restoration Network. Linda Walsh from Clementine in The Junction explains what they’re planning:
Erin Dolan (owner of Edie’s) has pulled together a great event to raise funds to help support The Gulf Restoration Network. Edie’s, Sweetie, Carmilia’s, Coastal and Clementine will all be showcasing items from our fall fashion lineup at Shadowland on September 30th from 6 to 8. We won’t be selling tickets, but people will be encouraged to make donations for the cause! After the fashion show at Shadowland, we’ll host a late-night shopping party (well until 10:00 :-) at Carmilia’s, Sweetie (also featuring items from Edie’s), and Clementine (also featuring items from Coastal.)
The Jade West Café north of Morgan Junction has remained closed since the drunk-driving crash last December that left longtime proprietor Wah Wong and his son Jason Wong seriously injured. (The drunk driver who hit them pleaded guilty and was sentenced last February.) We’ve been trying to reach the family for a while for a followup – but today, something new arrived in the inbox, with a fast-approaching deadline: The ongoing Pepsi Refresh “vote for a project Pepsi will fund” promotion has partnered with Major League Soccer, and each team proposed a project. The Seattle Sounders‘ project seeks to get the $50,000 Pepsi grant to renovate the Wongs’ Beacon Hill home, to help with the mobility issues they’ve suffered because of the crash injuries – Jason lost a leg. WSB’er Ben forwarded us a Sounders e-mail about this – the first he, and we, had heard of it – but take note, THE VOTING DEADLINE IS 8:59 PM OUR TIME TONIGHT. You can vote here.
Two years ago, we caught the start of “Walk ‘n’ Roll for Ataxia” on Alki; this morning, we have the announcement that it’s happening again in a few weeks, to benefit the National Ataxia Foundation in its fight against the not-so-well-known nervous-system disease (explained here). It’s at 10 am Saturday, October 2nd, starting from Alki Beach shelter #1 (across from Pegasus Pizza). Registration form here – or e-mail ataxiaseattle@comcast.net or call 425-823-6239. The very next day, there’s another awareness-and-money-raising walk in the Alki area:
(WSB photo from 2008 CROP Walk)
Sunday, October 3rd, is the day for this year’s CROP Walk, leaving from Alki UCC at 1:30 pm, raising money to fight hunger. More info here about how to participate and/or pledge.
Before those two walks in West Seattle, there is another walk happening outside our area but with West Seattle participants. Lisa from Arbor Heights e-mailed to let us know about Light the Night Walk, a cancer-fighting event for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, coming up next Saturday. Lisa is planning to walk with her friend April Fennell Robinson (photo left), whom Lisa says is fighting non-Hodgkins Follicular Lymphoma (and has already survived breast cancer). The walk is at Green Lake Park, starting at 7 pm September 25th, more info here.
And the day before that – it’s the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure, with a big West Seattle contingent, led by local survivor Tracy Dart‘s Team Tracy. She’s been continuing to chronicle their hard-fought fundraising successes online, and her excitement over being chosen to carry the “Courage” banner in the Survivors’ Circle during the 3-Day. This year’s walk starts next Friday night; Tracy has posted information on her site about how you can cheer on the walkers.
If you don’t recognize him right away, that’s Chef Hajime Sato, proprietor of Mashiko in The Junction, speaking at last year’s Eat Local Now! dinner celebrating sustainable locally grown/raised food. He’s part of this year’s event too – coming up Thursday, September 30th – along with others including Chef Dalis Chea from Fresh Bistro, whose parent company Herban Feast runs this year’s Eat Local Now! venue – SODO Park, just a bit east of West Seattle – plus West Seattle-residing Chef Traci Knight, pastry chef for Westwood-headquartered On Safari Foods. Guest speakers will talk about green jobs – a focus this year, along with learning about and supporting local food systems. And the night’s entertainment is by Ali Marcus. Co-presenters for Eat Local Now! include Sustainable West Seattle and CoolMom, and WSB is proud to again be among the co-sponsors; you can buy tickets online right now – adults are $35, kids $10 – just go here.
Shana from WestSide Baby says they’ve got a problem they’re very grateful to have – so many clothing donations, they need to find volunteers for a “Sorting Frenzy” work party 7-9 pm Thursday night at their White Center HQ. If you can spare the time to help make sure local families get much-needed help, RSVP to Sarah Grubbs at sarah@westsidebaby.org.
Some people just walk into a place and take right over. That’s Seattle funnyman Pat Cashman making himself comfortable in Southwest Youth and Family Services executive director Steve Daschle‘s office this morning. Daschle wasn’t around but truth is, SWYFS really didn’t mind Cashman getting comfortable – he’s the guy who’s going to keep things lively during their biggest fundraiser of the year, the XAFLAD! (Somali for “party”) auction/entertainment gala coming up September 24th (a week from Friday) at the Columbia Tower Club downtown. He was at SWYFS HQ in North Delridge this morning for a briefing – even as volunteers like Nancy continued to toil on the auction items – some of which have been grouped into theme baskets (this one’s easy to figure out):
SWYFS has more than 150 donated items going up for live and silent auction, according to Nanette Westerman, who along with Shayla Simoes stopped to chat while Cashman and SWYFS’s Cara Kroenke strategized for the big night. Most are in storage, awaiting the auction…
…but some items just aren’t shelf material, like a stay in Barcelona, Spain, or two tickets to a fancy dinner and show, and even a sneak peek inside the fabled women’s restroom atop the Columbia Tower (yes, females can go inside for free – but the successful bidder will get a tour even with XY chromosomes, Westerman says). Whatever the auction brings in, SWYFS is going to need it, she notes – she says she’s already getting phone calls inquiring what kind of help the agency will be offering at Christmastime: “Things are fairly dire out there.” (SWYFS wears many hats – public-school classes on site, violence-prevention programs, family-assistance programs, and more – and has a service area that also stretches outside West Seattle.) A few $60 tickets to XAFLAD! are left, and you can buy them online here.
Just in from the state Department of Transportation – a call to help with an official count of bicyclists and walkers in early October – read on for the announcement, and how you can sign up to help:Read More
Earlier this week, we shared two requests on behalf of the Chief Sealth International High School Band: A couch for a band room, and instruments for at least four students in need of them. Marcus Pimpleton, who directs the Chief Sealth Band and the entire music program at nearby Denny International Middle School, added a comment to that item this weekend – saying Denny students need instruments too:
Actually both Denny and Sealth are in need of instruments. The high school band is in need of larger instruments – trombones, baritone saxes, sousaphones (like someone just has one of those in the garage). The middle school is in need of clarinets, alto saxes, french horns, oboes, and trombones.
The greatest need is at the middle school, but the high school will need more and more as more students continue to move up to the high school level. I can be reached at mjpimpleton@seattleschools.org with donations for either program and live in West Seattle so I can pick them up if that is more convenient.
Thanks,
Marcus Pimpleton
Music Department Head, Denny International Middle School
Band Director, Chief Sealth International High School
The acclaimed Denny and Sealth music programs both have their own websites – Denny here, Sealth here.
ORIGINAL 2:13 AM REPORT: They played their hearts out for hundreds of people during Tuesday’s ribboncutting/reopening celebration – and now, the Chief Sealth International High School Band has a request – a couch for the band room. (Maybe two!) We shared that request before the end of last school year, but according to band member Syd Sattler, who e-mailed WSB this week, they couldn’t take immediate possession of the ones offered to them then, so it didn’t work out. Now they’re ready to accept one (or two!) – e-mail sydy68@gmail.com if you can help. Syd explains, “The purpose for our band couch is not only to have a comfortable place to sit and rest before and after performances but also to build (camaraderie) between bandmates … We are looking for a large couch, any color, any fabric will suffice.”
ADDED 9:43 AM: Another band need we learned about this morning – director Marcus Pimpleton says that four students have no instruments, so he’s asking for donations – either old instruments they can play, or money to sponsor instrument rental for one or more of the kids for the whole school year ($20-$80/month, he says). They especially need trombones for two students, and saxophones – he notes, “The two students we have play baritone sax, but we could switch them to a tenor or alto if those were to become available.” E-mail him at mjpimpleton@seattleschools.org if you can help!
It’s not specifically a Day of Service project – it’s the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s regular quarterly cleanup – but it’s on September 11th (this Saturday) and everybody’s welcome. From ANA president Katy Walum:
Admiral Adopt-a-Street Cleanup is this Saturday! Meet at Metropolitan Market at 9 am, where you’ll be provided with safety vests, trash bags, gloves, and trash picker-uppers, as well as fresh fruit, pastries, and coffee from the coffee shop. Once you’re finished beautifying your ‘hood (Admiral Way from the bridge west to 47th, and California Ave. from Walker south to Hanford), return to Metropolitan Market for complimentary sack lunches and a pat on the back for a job well done. What a rewarding way to spend a couple of hours on Saturday morning!
When we brought you first word that the West Seattle-based – but operating citywide – shelter for homeless families, Family Promise of Seattle, had to temporarily close for lack of $, board member Laura Bermes promised word would be forthcoming about fundraisers. Here’s the first big one, just out of the WSB inbox:
Family Promise of Seattle, our West Seattle Shelter for homeless families, is looking for individuals and teams to help raise funds in a FUN way! FP is hosting its first-ever Rock and Roll Glow Bowling Tournament called PINS FOR PENNIES. Pins for Pennies is a simple way for individuals in our community to MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
To participate, interested bowlers (or teams of bowlers) contact Laura Bermes at lbermes@comcast.net or 206-219-9173 to get a pledge packet. The idea is that each bowler collects donations and then shows up to bowl on Friday, October 8th from 6-9 pm at Roxbury Lanes. Every bowler that collects $200 or more in donations will be entered into a raffle for an iPod nano. This is a perfect opportunity for office friends, youth groups, Scout troops, reading groups – think of the groups you belong to that might enjoy making a difference in the lives of local children who are homeless. For more information about the Family Promise of Seattle and our upcoming Pins for Pennies fundraiser, check out our website at www.familypromiseofseattle.org.
Seattle, we NEED your HELP! Please consider participating in this fun opportunity to help Family Promise of Seattle get back on track to caring for homeless families!
Our Family Promise story was recently showcased when the Seattle Times focused on the plight of homeless families and included stories by its neighborhood-news partners – here’s the regional roundup; here’s the Times’ followup on reaction to its series.
Two items from Aviva at Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle: First, she says, “It really has been an off year for the fruit trees here in West Seattle. We have only harvested about 300 pounds of fruit and it seems that none of the Italian Plums have fruit. We could use … Asian pears, pears, and apples.” Contact info’s at gleanit.org if you have tree fruit to donate – you donate, they pick! Second – the new Community Orchard at South Seattle Community College, funded by a city grant, is getting off the ground with the Design Group’s first meeting ahead, and Aviva says, “We’d love to get (more of the) community involved in this cool new project.” Read on to see how you can be part of it!Read More
Roxhill Elementary School‘s distinctive “R” needs some help. And Westwood Neighborhood Council leader Donn DeVore (who shared the photo above) is offering the perfect chance for you to pitch in and make sure that a building working on teaching kids the “three R’s” – and then some – can be proud of its own “R” once more:
Calling for volunteers on September 11th/12th from 10 am to 2 pm. Need a minimum of 8-10 people (4-5 each day) to help sand, prime and re-paint the Roxhill Elementary School ‘R’ on SW Roxbury Street. The school doesn’t have the budget for this.
If people are interested in volunteering, please have them contact me at donndevore@hotmail.com.
2 quick reminders about Sunday’s Alki Beach 5K Walk/Run, benefiting Northwest Hope and Healing, which helps breast-cancer patients: First, 11 am tomorrow is your deadline to register online – you can do that here. Second, a reminder that Alki SW will be closed approximately 8 am-11 am Sunday for the 5K – this is a CHANGE from past years; the run got so big (1,400 last year) that it needs to be on the street, same course as the West Seattle 5K.
(WSB photo from Alki Beach 5K Walk/Run in September 2009)
A couple things are different about this year’s Alki Beach 5K Walk/Run. First, it’s in August this time, not September. It’s just one week away – Sunday, August 29. Second, instead of walking and running along the Alki Beach pathway, participants will be out in the street on Alki Avenue SW, which will be closed next Sunday morning for the event – approximately 8 am to 11 am, according to Shari Sewell from Northwest Hope and Healing, the Alki Beach 5K’s beneficiary, a nonprofit that helps breast-cancer patients. You can sign up online till 11 am Friday morning – might as well do it now! – just go here.
Dropped by Rocksport Bar and Grill (on SW Alaska a few doors east of California) for a photo of Jayme Miller and friend Sydni Smith just before the “Walk On, Jayme!” fundraising silent auction got rolling. In our photo, Jayme’s holding one of the many cool prizes donated by local merchants – Alki Tours, in this case. Go visit, bid on something, help Jayme with the massive medical bills she’s incurred while beating the odds in her battle to walk again, after she was suddenly struck by a rare neurological disorder (as explained here – our story includes video from the KING5 story about Jayme too).
They’ve done it again – the wants-to-remain-anonymous West Seattle dad who went on an anti-graffiti tear with his daughter in summer 2009 – here’s the resulting story – found himself back for round 2. The vandals have been busy again lately – so, he wrote:
(Thursday) we had a father/daughter outing planned for a day of swimming and enjoying the summer day. Unfortunately, the weather did not quite cooperate but we still wanted to get outside. On a recent walk through Schmitz Park, we noticed the beautiful log benches in the center of the park were once again covered with graffiti. So we decided to spend our day cleaning up the benches and other graffiti around our neighborhood. We had a wonderful time together, cleaned up a lot of graffiti, and ended the day with a great sense of accomplishment as well as a great feeling of West Seattle community pride.
He shared numerous before/after photos; we’re putting up a couple here – though, as is our policy, we’ve blurred the tags in the “before” photos.
We asked what they use to remove tags. Answer: “We use ‘Goof Off’ and some scouring pads. They make a great product, and one specialized for graffiti. As for the log benches, the only way to get it off is with a hand-held wood planer.” If you’re not up for removal but want to be sure it at least gets reported – which police stress is important – here’s how to report tagging/graffiti vandalism on public property.
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