The Alliance of Eastside Agencies, a professional membership organization of human service providers, held its sixth annual luncheon at The Bear Creek Country Club in Woodinville June 3, to honor outstanding contributions to human services in East King County.

Winners of human services awards were nominated by Eastside human service providers.

Volunteer of the Year was Becky Underwood, who averages 30 volunteer hours per week for Eastside Domestic Violence Program in Bellevue.

Elected Official of the Year was Mayor James Lauinger of the Kirkland City Council because of his support of funding for human services each year, his long involvement as a board member of Hopelink and for serving as chair of the Eastside Human Services Forum.

Youth Volunteers of the Year represented B-GLAD, a group which assists youth who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and educates King County communities about the needs of such youth, as well as Bellevue-based Youth Eastside Services (YES).

Non-Profit Staff (Member) of the Year was Bellevue native Megan Kennedy of YES, who works with teens at Ground Zero in Bellevue.

Business of the Year, Conifer Specialties of Woodinville, was praised for its generous donations of baking mixes to Food Lifeline.

A Legacy Award was given to Bellevue resident Steve Roberts on behalf of his work with the Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council and Congregations for the Homeless.

Guest speaker for the luncheon was Carol Lewis, CEO of Philanthropy Northwest, who addressed the topic of “philanthropy in tough economic times.”

She thanked luncheon attendees for “the work you do to provide a human services safety net” and acknowledged that the work they do is harder than ever because “we’re in, at best, turbulent times.”

When people ask her for predictions of how things will look next year, Lewis admitted, “I can’t read a crystal ball and tell you,” but she asked for some optimism in light of “the incredible philanthropic tradition here in the Northwest.”

Some of the most successful philanthropic non-profits and businesses in the country are local, she pointed out, referring to United Way of King County, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft and the Paul G. Allen Foundation, among others.

For smaller human services agencies and foundations, “general operating support is hard to come by,” she added. And they face increasing challenges to comply with new requirements for governance and transparency.

But on a positive note, “The power of philanthropy is not with the big organizations,” Lewis stated. Pooled gifts from individual donors can have as powerful an impact as major endowments.

“Two-thirds of all grants are under $10,000,” she said. “You read about million dollar grants.”

To be most effective, she said human service providers need to build their boards, build donor support within their own communities and network with elected officials who can help to further their causes.

“The people you meet — who know about your work and understand it — are going to stick with you,” Lewis said. Her advice continued, “Talk to grantees, survey, convene and listen. Focus on priorities. Streamline grant-making. Communicate clearly. … Collaborate. Come together.”

Instead of clutching for resources for their own agencies, they must identify regional needs and work together for the greater good.

“You need to let go of ego, make real adjustments,” she said. “Listen first, talk to each other, share, agree to keep talking because our community depends on it.”

As an elected official whose constituents are worried about issues such as mental health coverage or aid for veterans, Lauinger told the Reporter he sees “a huge, colossal problem where funding is beginning to erode.”

Referring to members of the Alliance of Eastside Agencies, Lauinger remarked, “Folks here today make a Herculean effort to provide service but so much can be donated (by others). Food bank inventories are thin. There is a higher need, stores are keeping lower inventory because of perishable dates. There are far fewer resources, not much money. … I read a lot of economic reports and am relatively pessimistic about any turn-around. There’s no quick fix for this one.”

But “if you close down 6,000 jobs at a large company, that might help your profits but now you have 6,000 people who aren’t consumers,” he pointed out.

He said he was proud of companies like Costco “who’ve refused to release people or drive down their benefits … People who are unemployed buy a lot less stuff.”

Alliance of Eastside Agencies chair David Downing, who is also associate director of YES, urged luncheon attendees to be active in advocacy, help to train newcomers and provide leadership scholarships for talented job or volunteer applicants.

Mary Stevens-Decker can be contacted at mdecker@redmond-reporter.com

The Alliance of Eastside Agencies is located at the Family Resource Center, 16225 NE 87th St., Suite A5 in Redmond. For information, call (425) 558-9114 or visit www.familyresourcecenter.org.