Sharing the News: Client Youth Wellness Campus Awarded $1 Million Grant by C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust.

The news via client Patricia Hennessy that we're thrilled to share:  The C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust Awards a $1 Million Dollar Grant to the Youth Wellness Campus, Soon to Break Ground in Bremerton with Master Plan by Architect Steven Holl.




This photo, from the Steven Holl Architects website, depicts an earlier model of the Youth Wellness Center at night.



The Youth Wellness Campus has been awarded a $1 million dollar grant from the C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust managed by the Seattle Foundation. The grant will be used to support the organization’s ongoing capital campaign.

Mr. Birkenfeld, a member of a Kitsap County pioneer family, passed away in 2005 leaving his substantial estate to be distributed through grants made annually to non-profit organization in Kitsap County and to other select organizations. Grants are intended to build a lasting impact in the communities the organizations serve and to inspire others to give. 2013 marks the eighth year of the funding with a total of $7.8 million in grants made to date, primarily benefitting Kitsap County non profits.



Mr. Birkenfeld grew up in Bremerton and graduated from Bremerton High School in 1956. He was an educator and philanthropist with wide-ranging civic and cultural interests. He was also a resident of Bainbridge Island contributing the vitality to the community through his support of arts, education and environmental causes. “We are incredibly grateful for this generous grant, the mission of the Youth Wellness Campus is very much in alignment with what Mr. Birkenfeld believed in,” said Peggy Templeton, Board President. “This investment should be an inspiration to all of us, it will help create a lasting legacy for community youth for many generations to come.”



The Youth Wellness Campus, being constructed on the site of the former East Bremerton High School, is a public-private partnership focused on collaborative efforts to advance education, nutrition and overall health. Once complete it will be home to leading organizations with programs serving youth and their families in the Kitsap County region. The master plan of the campus has been designed by world-renowned architect and Kitsap County native Steven Holl.  (Here, in a February Wall Street Journal feature, Mr. Holl discusses, among other things, the first home he designed, back in 1974, right next to the cabin he grew up in, in Manchester, WA near Bremerton in Kitsap County.)



Current partners in the project include the City of Bremerton, Bremerton School District, Kitsap County Health District, Boys and Girls Club of South Puget Sound and Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children. As the project advances, there will be partnerships with sports and fitness organizations, health care agencies, arts and music programs and, collaborative efforts with local chefs and farmers. Redevelopment of the property includes renovation of the existing gymnasium, construction of a facility to house a variety of services, and building a small year-round marketplace featuring local food and craft products.

Other organizations that were awarded grants for 2013 include the Quilcene Historical Museum, Central Kitsap Food Bank, the Marvin Williams Center and Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County. Previous grants from the C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust include awards to the Boys & Girls Club of South Puget Sound and Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children for the construction of their building on the Youth Wellness Campus. Both organizations are partners on the Youth Wellness Campus. For more information about the campus, please visit www.bywc.org.

Chefs McCracken & Tough's SPUR is in This Month's Hemispheres Magazine (United Airlines In Flight Mag)

In the "Better Together" story on "tired food trends (that) get an injection of new life from visionaries who recognize the power of hybrids", United Air's Hemispheres mag takes a look at everything from Speakeasies and Tasting Menus, to Pop-Up Dinners and Farmers Markets.  In the section "Molecular Gastronomy + Gastropubs = Pub Food Chemistry" readers learn about Chef Wylie Dufresne's New York-based Alder plus Chef Brian McCracken and Dana Tough's Seattle-based SPUR.    Spur's tagliatelle with slow cooked duck egg adds "molecular impulses to Northwest outdoorsiness" they report.

Thank you to Chaney Kwak for a great article and for spotlighting Chefs McCracken and Tough's SPUR.

The Shred Stop Story in The Herald Business Journal: Investing in Forest Restoration

Ah, Earth Day!  Amy Watkins wrote this great piece on Pacific Northwest company, The Shred Stop, and their support for the work the National Forest Foundation is doing in the Methow area: "Stephen Hershman believes it’s time for his young company to give something back.  Three years have passed since his document-shredding business, The Shred Stop, installed a prototype kiosk in Haggen’s Top Food and Drug in Edmonds. Since then, Hershman, 35, and his business partner, Keith Rettig, 45, have added 17 more in-grocery kiosks to Fred Meyer, Haggen, Safeway and Top Food & Drug stores in Washington and Oregon. Another four kiosks are scheduled this summer to go in Safeway stores in San Francisco.

With business going strong, The Shred Stop partnered with the National Forest Foundation to help restore 120 acres of forest... One dollar per every 10 pounds of paper shredded goes to the foundation’s Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign site in the Pacific Northwest: The “Majestic Methow” in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The project includes wilderness and backcountry habitat restoration, forest restoration and invasive plant removal. Trail restoration and maintenance to support sustainable recreational use as well as wildlife enhancement such as beaver reintroduction and wolverine monitoring are also part of the project.

A few different ideas for the partnership were discussed before a decision to support the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest project was made, said Kathleen Dowd-Gailey, Pacific Northwest regional director for the National Forest Foundation. The donations from The Shred Stop will go toward some invasive species removal and forest restoration work and will be matched by the Forest Service, she said.

An environmental focus has been part of The Shred Stop since its beginning. All of the shredded paper is recycled and repurposed. The kiosks themselves are over 99 percent recyclable and built using LED lighting and ultra-efficient electronics.

“I really like the idea of doing forest restoration because not only does it meet our personal environmental appetites but we’ve also dovetailed it well into our business,” Hershman said. “Not only are we recycling paper but a portion of what you’re paying is going to plant new trees and restore forests.”

Thanks to Kurt Badorf and Amy of the Business Journal for the article.

Chefs McCracken and Tough on KING 5's Evening Magazine with Meeghan Black Talking Salmon

KING 5 stopped by SPUR this week after we touched base with them about Chef McCracken and Tough's salmon being showcased in Cooking Light magazine.  To try the recipe the Chefs prepared for Meeghan Black to enjoy, click here.

Thank you Meeghan and crew for stopping by!

What's on Pages 17 and 18 of the May Cooking Light Magazine? Chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough Talk Salmon and Share Some Secrets for the Salmon Crostini at Spur That's Earned a Cult Following

Senior Food Editor Tim Cebula interviewed Chefs McCracken and Tough for a Cooking Light First Bites feature.  And what shouts "May is here" in Seattle? Salmon.

We were so excited to see the magazine when it hit Margo's mailbox this week.  Two entire pages detailing the Seattle Chefs' Salmon Crostini... and including an at-home, McCracken and Tough-inspired version of the SPUR menu favorite.

Thank you to Cooking Light magazine,congratulations to Brian and Dana, and-- hey everyone-- do visit Spur soon to try this delicious bite yourself in case you missed it at Thursday's Voracious event.

Seattle Based India Tree Spice Company Shares Gorgeous Ideas for Spring Cupcakes

For a sweet spin on Spring, India Tree has fun in the kitchen− making colored sugars, sprinkles, liquid colors and decoratifs, including the India Tree Nature’s Colors collection of vegetable-based decorating products available nationally. 

Writer Molly Smith, at She Knows and All Parenting, just did a story on spring cupcakes. India Tree's lemon nudged treat was included, topped with a tiny shortbread cookie which India Tree founder Gretchen Goehrend suggests keeping on hand in the freezer to top cakes and cupcakes.  Delicious and pretty.

The cupcake, frosting and shortbread recipes are all available online at AllParenting.com plus on the India Tree website.

Thank you to Molly for the story, which can be read here.

Floral Idea by Splendid Market's Style Doyenne Emily Makes the Pages of Ladies Home Journal

Such a treat to finally see the story featuring client Splendid Market's fresh, fun floral idea.  Emily Heston, who blogs as Splendid Market, shared her springtime bouquet with Ladies Home Journal. 

I wonder how many of the nearly 3.25 million readers tried her clever carrot idea?

Thank you to Dorothy Foltz-Gray at LHJ!