Did you know that Vashon Island has 119 nonprofit organizations on Vashon? There is a good chance that every single person on the island, in one way or another, has either worked for, volunteered for, donated to, utilized, or in some way been touched by one of these amazing organizations.

I have been a board member, a donor, and a volunteer for many island nonprofits, and I currently work for the Voice of Vashon. For many, this is the time of year for reflection and gratefulness.

I find myself looking back on communications from years past with VoV and they make me smile. I love this email, below, from when I first joined Voice of Vashon as executive director on April 1, 2020. (You know, 2020. Just another typical year across the island and the globe.)

“My name is Kate, and I am thrilled to be a part of the mighty Voice of Vashon team. Lisa Breen has graciously offered to work with me until I get up to speed on all aspects of the organization. #thankful:)

“I have been reaching out to set up a time to connect 1:1 with each of you to learn about the vital roles you play and how I can be of support.

“In this time of crisis, I am sending positivity and wishing you and your family health, safety and sanity! I could not be more thankful for this community and the work that the VoV team does for us all.”

The last line of that email resonates strongly with me. I could not be more thankful for this community and the work that the VoV team does for us all. (And I would caveat that to say all the amazing work of all the nonprofits!)

The Voice of Vashon has a few different bits — Vashon’s own independent radio station, KVSH-LP 101.9FM, Channel 21 – public television, and the Emergency Alert System. Our mighty Emergency Alert team is tireless and are true community heroes.

VoV, in partnership with VashonBePrepared, was intensely busy during the pandemic, providing resources and reliable information that kept islanders safe and informed. Not surprisingly, we are still darned busy making sure our community has access to information that keeps them safe and informed, and yep! — entertained.

Created by islanders for islanders, on the FM dial, on our app, on the web, and on your smart speaker, we give you a voice. With shows like Mi Gente Latina for our Spanish-speaking community; The Brown Briefly, about local issues, (be sure to check out the January 16th show with guest Dow Constantine); multitudes of music shows; and “Look, Listen and Learn’, a BIPOC children’s show airing on VoV TV; there is something for everyone.

And we cannot do it without you.

Just like so many of our nonprofits, Voice of Vashon relies on our community to keep us going. On now is the Old Man Winter campaign, our end-of-the-year ask for help. I think I speak for many of our nonprofits when I say, we love your money, we need your money, and that is just one piece of the pie. The other very big piece is people.

From technical team lead, program director, emergency alert team member, board member, producer — just like our variety of programming, VoV has something for everyone. To both the new and not-so-new residents in our community: want a quick and fabulous way to meet new people? Join us! Got two hours a month? Get trained on how to use our professional recording studio! Got five hours a month? Learn how to start your own show! Got ten hours a month? Sign up to be an emergency alert team hero or join our board.

You keep us going. Here’s one more recent email from me that sums it all up from this year — there’s a thread here.

“I started to create a collage of all the faces of people who have touched Voice of Vashon over the many years. And I had to stop. I became overwhelmed by this feeling of love and gratefulness because there are too many faces to fit into a cute collage! I am so thankful for you.

“Whether a donor, a volunteer, an underwriter, a producer, an engineer, a board member, a cheerleader, a tech team member, a lip-syncer, a parade walker, an alert team member, a strawberry-fest-shopping-spree-raffle-ticket-seller, a viewer, an Emcee, a Facebook liker, a listener, a monthly supporter – you have all shined your love on this mighty public radio, TV and emergency alert system.

“You are the stars of the Voice of Vashon, and I am so truly thankful for every one of you.

“Yours in gratitude, Kate.”

Kate Dowling is the executive director of Voice of Vashon.