PORT ANGELES — Feiro Marine Life Center’s annual fundraising auction will return this year as Making Waves 2021: Resilience.
A live show will be broadcast at 5 p.m. Saturday at https://makingwaves21.givesmart.com and also simulcast on YouTube and Facebook.
It’s the center’s biggest fundraiser of the year — one Feiro had to do without in March 2020 because of health restrictions imposed as the COVID-19 pandemic settled in.
Like many local organizations, Feiro was forced to postpone all in-person fundraising activities.
“Last year was OK. We’re still here, and that was the important part,” said Melissa Williams, executive director.
The center on City Pier in Port Angeles made it through a long closure with loans and grants as well as “amazing volunteers who have come in a cleaned and continued to maintain the sea water system,” she said.
“The animals are the first and biggest priority,” Williams said, and all are well-fed and healthy.
On the pandemic’s first anniversary, Feiro has reimagined the event and will deliver the fundraiser online with both silent and live auctions.
Auction items will include several staycation opportunities, plenty of chances to refill wine and beer racks and lots of other items.
“We have a more positive outlook for 2021, but we have to make money to help fill our budget,” Williams said.
The fundraising goal is $60,000. The center’s annual budget, when fully staffed, is $350,000.
“This would help us,” she said.
Pre-pandemic, the center would attract about 100 people per day in the winter, with as many as 500 daily in the summer.
Now, the center is open Friday through Sunday by reservations booked only at feiromarinelifecenter.org. The limit is eight people at a time.
“Admission is the biggest gap we’re trying to fill now,” Williams said.
During Saturday’s show, Feiro will award the inaugural Robert J. Campbell scholarship, created to honor Feiro’s now-retired facilities director. The $1,000 scholarship assists students already enrolled in higher education to major in natural sciences.
This year’s recipient is Mary Cochran, a Port Angeles High School senior and a Running Start student at Peninsula College. Cochran will attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the fall. Several of Campbell’s children will present the award.
The fifth annual Feiro Family Scholarship award winner is Rylie Hough, a senior at Sequim High School who will apply the $1,000 scholarship to her studies at Western Washington University. Carly Boyd (Feiro), Art Feiro’s granddaughter, will present the award to Hough during the event.
Cindy Hansen of the Orca Network on Whidbey Island is this year’s featured speaker.
Hansen has been the education and events coordinator for Orca Network since 2016. She received a degree in zoology from the University of Washington and has worked as a naturalist and educator for more than 20 years.
Hansen will share information about the Southern Resident orcas, including what sets them apart from other orcas, as well as timely details about their pods and geographic range.
Silas Crews of StoryCrane Productions is the event videographer and producer.
Noting that many regional nonprofits have shifted to virtual fundraisers, Willliams expressed gratitude to those who shared their experience and provided guidance on hosting an online fundraiser — which included the team at the Olympic Medical Center Foundation and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula.
Business sponsors include Airport Garden Center, Angeles Millwork / Hartnagel Building Supply, Kelly Johnson, managing broker at Windermere, and Stephen C. Moriarty Law Office.
Mary Cochran.
