Local Philanthropy Heroes
August 4, 2009 
13 Comments
When people think of philanthropy they usually think of things like the Gates Foundation, wealthy community figures, or some kind of corporate giving program. But with many traditional centers of wealth freezing up in the throes of our topsy-turvy economy, micro-philanthropy from the everyday masses is becoming more and more important.
This often means contributions that aren’t in the form of cash, like volunteer labor, professional expertise, leadership direction, or helping to make connections or procure key supplies for a project. Obama has a taken action on the concept of volunteering as a national duty. But how do we best cultivate a culture of volunteerism locally in Spokane?
One way is to recognize, reward and thank people for their efforts. This is exactly the motivation behind the Som Show’s annual Sommy Awards production (aside from a great excuse to ride Spokane’s racing limo to the now demolished Blvd). While many local musicians are woefully under-recognized, chances are they’re far more renowned than your average community organizer. A lot of volunteerism takes place “behind the scenes” instead of up on the literal stage. People spend hundreds of hours sending emails, making phone calls and going to frequently boring meetings to achieve often invisible results. If the work was sexier there’d be a lot more people doing it.
Anyhow, awhile back we received an email from a journalist (notice: bloggers and “paid media” coexisting beneficially) about the upcoming Inlander philanthropy issue. It got us thinking, “Who are the activists we know that really stand out in areas like the Arts, Community, Education, Environment, Social Action, Wellness, Youth and Community Gardening?”
Of course no one person can know everyone that is out there. It’s the journalist’s job to comb through and compile answers from everyone who responds. Obviously there is no “right” answer. They will probably look for the best stories, try to weigh the impact of people’s work, consider how many nominations various people received, and factor in a person’s general prominence in the community (see “Where Did We Go Wrong?” respondents).
So we came up with our own angle of young people we know who are doing great work in these areas. They might not end up in the paper, but their efforts are no less worthy of recognition.
Arts – Tiffany Patterson
This is a woman who is leading our young local artists by example. She writes a blog. She’s politically active. She’s on Etsy. She does benefit shows. She does shows with other cool local artists. She’s at the Community Roots Market. She helps people with their fliers and zine covers. She has a calendar and a coloring book. She paints beautiful murals (you have to go under the Maple St. bridge to see it for yourself) in beautiful neighborhoods. What will this creative dynamo dream up next?
Community – Angie Dierdorff
Angie is a mastermind when it comes to coordinating large scale community events. She was instrumental in producing HoopFest, and has now turned her sights to Sustainable September, an entire month of sustainability-themed community events to be held in Spokane this fall. Angie goes above and beyond to make sure that her events have lasting impact, and takes pains to ensure they are geared towards building community. Angie was also a founding member of P.E.A.C.H. Local, and is a part of Spokane’s 80′s punk rock crowd.
Education – Brooke Matson
Don’t let Brooke’s sweet M.E.A.D. Alternative High School teacher smile fool you. This young lady has a hankering for change and she knows how to get it! Teaming up with the Shrinking Violets, Brooke wasted no time organizing a Radical Teacher’s Support Group “to recharge our sense of purpose and reconnect with the passions that called us to become educators.” As if that weren’t enough, Brooke went on to convene RiverSpeak, a grassroots group of creatives looking to establish a community-driven online forum for local arts and literature that will ultimately be supplemented by quarterly print reviews. Brooke also draws on her perspective as an alternative educator in contributing to Envision Spokane.
Environment – Matthew Phillipy
Matt is a science teacher at WVCS by day, and is an amateur green builder and neighborhood activist extraordinaire by night. With his super students, Matt set up a wiki for the Peaceful Valley neighborhood. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Matt was the driving force behind the successful multi-day Peaceful Valley Parks Charrette, where neighbors came together for the first time since the 1980′s to create a community vision for their neighborhood. While he was waiting for the City to process paperwork at a glacial pace, Matt roused fellow neighborhood enthusiasts into picking up trash and taking immediate action to improve the state of the PV parks.All the while he was working diligently with his father, Keith Phillipy, to complete a green remodel on his historic (est. ~1895) home. His pad now has drought tolerant landscaping, a solar powered chicked coop, vermiculture in the kitchen and other fun features. You can support Matt’s work by purchasing a limited edition I ♥ PV T-Shirt here. When supplies run out an organic cotton version will be on its way.
Social Action – Nick Flett and Naaman Cordova-Muenzberg
Nick is wholly dedicated to his work at the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery. He also has been known to weigh in on local politics after hours. He helped to put on the Fatherhood Conference at SCC, and is likely to be found at most any community event dealing with social justice and human rights.
Naaman works for the Inland Northwest Mentoring Partnership and always seems to have something interesting up his sleeve. Right now he’s working with friends to host a “Love-In” benefit party for PJALS with performances by the B Radicals and Black Rabbit Magic. You can RSVP here.
Wellness – Beth Mort
Partner blog Diamond in the Basalt does a pretty good job of justifying this nomination. You can vote in favor of Beth for a $10,000 Grants For Change award to establish a comprehensive bike and wellness training program for youth in Spokane. You have to log in to the Nau site to vote, but they have great design principles (see: chrysalis dress) so sign in and represent! Beth did a stint at the Lands Council and does countless other amazing things with her friends over at Pedals2People, Spokane’s hip grassroots community bicycling group.
Youth – Taylor Weech
I really hope that whomever gets showcased for this category is actually a young person. Taylor is a chalking (helped organize a community “chalk jam” in Riverfront Park) talking example of the effectiveness and need for youth-led community involvement. As the only full time staff member of the Youth Sustainability Council, Taylor helps to manage six other teen employees that help run the group’s Facebook, MySpace and blog. They also have a radio show called “Raise Your Voice” on KYRS 92.3FM. It is the only youth issues forum on Spokane radio, and can be heard every Friday at 3pm.
Community Gardening – Cricket Turgeon
Cricket took on an early leadership role to help roll out Food Not Lawns here in Spokane with some dedicated friends. Her organizing philosophy is wise and strategic. We intuit more good things to come.
Last we’d like to humbly submit two more community philanthropy categories for the Inlander. What about Politics and Religion? They might be charged topics to cover at times, but their importance to society is undeniable. We would acknowledge Chad Nicholson for his hard work on the Community Bill of Rights, and Malcolm Haworth and Jon Phillips, for advancing local interfaith events and participating broadly.
These are just a smattering of names, but they represent a strong undercurrent of positive change in our city. There are many more behind and around these dedicated and passionate young people. We welcome your shout-outs and thanks to the local heroes you know below.
About the Author
Thanks so much for doing this one Mariah (and everyone one of your blogs, for that matter!). How about covering local heroes monthly? It feels so good to hear about these people making Spokanistan a better place to live and engaging in a process of uncovering the jewel that it truly is.
Hey Mariah!
Wow – I’m glad you liked my idea! What wonderful people you have highlighted here. I hope you pick up the issue this week and read it carefully. For someone who clearly took my call to heart, I’d love if you could let me know your honest feedback. I have big plans for that issue for next year – and if I can make it work, I would love your help!
Have a great day,
Leah
How is it that Barb Chamberlain is missing from this list?
Thank you for this fantastic post Mariah. Your efforts and energy are evident, and as a result, you have put names and stories to the great work being done by young people in this region. I’m proud to call some of you local philanthropy heroes my friends and colleagues.
Cheers!
Hmmm. Apparently “philanthropy” has become the latest entry in the Newspeak dictionary. With the title “Local Philanthropy Heros,” I expected to find the name of Myrtle Woldson, who donated $1 million to restore the Moore-Turner Gardens and a similar amount to restore the Fox Theater, somewhere near the top of the list. And perhaps that of Dr. Elizabeth Welty, who donated $2 million to the Community Colleges of Spokane Foundation. Or perhaps even some Habitat for Humanity volunteers. But instead you present a list of straphangers on the greenie bandwagon, promoters of Envision Spokane’s preposterous “Bill of Frights,” and others whose charitable endeavors appear to be confined to hyping one politically correct dogma or another (which is not to disparage the value of the real work they may do). I wonder who else would qualify per that criterion — Louis Farrakhan? David Duke? Osama bin Laden?
BTW, “volunteering as a national duty” is an oxymoron. A voluntary act is one the agent is free to do or not do. One is not free not to do something one has duty to do.
Lovely, M. Thanks for the big-ups. Although, we need to find the slot at the top for your name.
Also, unfortunately the B-radicals aren’t in the mix this sunday…(But, it’s still gonna be freakin’ boss!)
Keep doing what you do. You do do it best.
What a great list! I’m putting on my list of things to do: research folks on Mariah’s list. And thanks for the shout-out for Naaman’s PJALS benefit. See you there!
RE: Volunteering is free duty…
The personal benefits of volunteering and professional skills learned make these “free” opportunities much more valuable than they seem. When volunteering connects people to a community far greater than what they alone could ever achieve, volunteering really is a national duty. Next time you criticize the impact volunteering has on its cause, think of the other half: What is the volunteering taking in from this experience, and how will they grow and expand upon it for years to come?
*What is the VOLUNTEER taking in, excuse me.
Great list. Dr. Bob Lutz would be a great addition. He has been doing a great job on the Bicycle Advisory Board.
this matthew phillipy character seems like quite a fellow. too bad he spent the entire summer as a vagabond aboard a sailboat in the san juans, a raft on the salmon river, a vw bus in glacier n.p. and the beaches of southern california instead of fixing up peaceful valley! seriously though- i do appologize for being absent for the summer. river walk park is moving along and we should see some actuaul ground work begin late fall 2009! i heart p.v.
Thanks for bringing attention to those making a positive difference in our community. What a great blog!