Friends of Polly Judd Park - Non-Profit

[Philip Small]

Hello Garrett and Patricia, and Friends of Polly Judd Park:

Today Friends of Polly Judd Park was registered as a non-profit corporation with the State of Washington. Robynn especially put a lot of thought into the Articles as well as draft bylaws so that would be a good fit for 501(c)(3) registration. This would not have happened without Robynn.

The vision of the Friends is to improve parks for community betterment.

Our mission: to promote healthy, resilient communities, to foster equitable access to open landscapes and the benefits of nature, to teach an appreciation for natural capital and sustainable land stewardship in urban environments.

Our purpose according to our Articles: 

The corporation is organized exclusively for charitable, scientific and educational purposes, within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), including, without limitation, to promote healthy, resilient communities, to foster equitable access to open landscapes and the benefits of nature, to teach an appreciation for natural capital and sustainable land stewardship in urban environments. 

The next step in the formalization process is to get our EIN, at which point we can apply to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status. We are arranging for insurance to cover our board members. Currently I am the one (incorporating) board member: I am working on a 3 year budget and a business plan to use to recruit other board members. People like to know what they are getting into!

I am very excited about this project, and I know a lot of you reading this share that excitement. I will be working at this at my usual pace, leaving a place to pick up that pace when I can attract a couple more likeminded individuals with the time and resources available to dedicate to this awesome project and form the initial board of directors. I learned a lot in co-founding the Edible Tree Project, the importance of starting with an activist core of individual board members is key.

Some folks active with Polly Judd Park, and not just one person, question putting this level of effort into formalizing what must currently look like just another low key super local community garden project. I respect that view, and I don't have a tight response to that, but I do think what we have a unique opportunity at Polly Judd Park to engage a vision for community betterment larger than that of the immediate garden and food forest opportunity we are working on.

Warm regards, 

Phil