Thank you to our GiveBIG Supporters!

The IATC participated in GiveBIG this month resulting in over $3,000 raised in just two days! Thanks to over two dozen generous donors, we are able to continue our work preserving and protecting the trails, wildlands, and parks in our beloved Issaquah Alps. During these difficult times, we are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of so many, as well as several new donors. The incredible generosity of our donors helps the IATC engage the public to preserve, protect, and promote the land, wildlife, and trails of the Issaquah Alps for present and future generations.

So where does the money go?

For over 40 years, citizen activists and volunteers of the Issaquah Alps Trails Club have worked with civic leaders and land managers to preserve and protect our parks, open spaces, and trails. With your support, our community has been able to continue our strategic planning work to best serve present and future generations of hikers, trail runners, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Volunteer organization and mobilization

Our Board of Directors is currently leading the charge to create a thoughtful strategic plan to guide our organization into the future. In addition, we are working to engage volunteers, activists, and donors in a deeper way than ever before. We aim to build a public engagement program that connects volunteers to ideas bigger than themselves, leverages partnerships, accomplishes tangible outcomes, and recognizes volunteers for their efforts. IATC’s Public Engagement Committee oversees our guided hiking program as well as other volunteer opportunities that involve advocacy, education (events and tabling), and preservation (trail work). If you’d like to get involved on one of our committees or as a volunteer, please visit our website and fill out the volunteer form.

Advocacy

The IATC supports public lands advocacy campaigns within the Issaquah Alps and beyond. Our resources and relationships with land managers, public officials, and partner organizations are broad and deep. Recently, the Save Coal Creek campaign posted signs throughout the area, and worked with neighborhood groups to drive hundreds of new signatures to a petition that will support public acquisition of this critical parcel. If you have not already, please sign the petition on our website: issaquahalps.org/save-coal-creek. In addition, we are currently working to support Save DeLeo Wall and continue to provide guidance to the Bergsma acquisition. If you would like to support local advocacy efforts, please join the IATC by filling out our volunteer form on our website.

All GiveBIG donations support the heart of our mission -- advocacy. The generosity of our donors will help citizen activists organize, mobilize, and influence on a broader and deeper level than ever before. THANK YOU to all of our donors, volunteers, fellow hikers and trail runners who support the important work we do for our Issaquah Alps. Together, we will make a lasting impact on the trails and public lands we all love.