PORT ANGELES — The North Olympic Land Trust plans an open house Thursday at the headquarters it moved into in July.
“We’re hosting an open house to encourage the community to come and tour the new space, as we would like the building to become an additional community space and resource,” said Alana Linderoth, North Olympic Land Trust spokeswoman.
The open house will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the nonprofit conservation group’s headquarters at 602 E. Front St., Port Angeles.
But the public is invited all day long, Linderoth said, during the land trust’s Double Your Donation Drive-Through Day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“Thanks to a generous donor, we’re able to match the first $1,000 raised at our drive-through window,” which remains from when the building housed a bank.
Hot apple cider and cookies will be available throughout the day, with more appetizers during the open house, she said.
The land trust moved its headquarters in late July after acquiring a low-cost lease from Sound Community Bank.
The lease “equates to a large in-kind annual donation from them,” Linderoth said.
“Sound Community Bank is continuing a long tradition of businesses investing in local nonprofits,” said Tom Sanford, land trust executive director.
“This investment in the land trust gives us the space we need to attempt to meet the growing community demand for land conservation,” he said.
“We see this donation to the land trust as a gift to the entire community and intend to use it accordingly.”
Furthering the development of the land trust aligns with the commitment of Sound Community Bank to provide sustainable and secure financial services and support for individuals, businesses and communities, said Laurie Stewart, president and CEO of the bank, adding the bank had done so for nearly 20 years.
“We playfully state that ‘community’ is our middle name — but it really is,” Stewart said.
“I was born and raised in Sequim,” she added. “North Olympic Land Trust ensures those fields, farms and rivers I fondly remember endure for generations to come.
“Sound Community Bank looks forward to this partnership and the great work we’ll achieve together.”
Since the land trust was founded in 1990, it has conserved — through working with willing landowners — more than 3,200 acres on more than 90 properties across Clallam County.
The land includes about 650 acres open for public recreation, as well as about 460 acres of active farmland, about 460 acres of working forestland, both marine and freshwater shorelines, and about 1,800 acres of conserved forest lands.
For more about the land trust, see www. NorthOlympicLandTrust.org.
For more about Sound Community Bank’s community efforts, see www.soundcb.com/about-us/ sustainability.html
