Business Pulse

Philanthropy: Mt. Baker Chapter Red Cross
Executive Director Stacy Rice leads the local chapter that manages a budget of $800,000, of which 91 percent goes to programming, and
100s of volunteers with a five-person staff. (Staff Photo)
Mt. Baker Chapter Red Cross: beyond local
Helping families navigate unexpected emergencies
Special to Business Pulse
The local administrative
team of the American
Red Cross, based in
downtown Bellingham,
bears the name Mt. Baker
Chapter. It operates with
just five employees. Seem
small?
Take a look at its tentacles.
They stretch from local, to regional,
to state, to national, to around
the world.
The Mt. Baker Chapter primarily
covers needs in Whatcom County
and Skagit County, but also part of
the Northwest Washington Region
that includes the Snohomish and
Islands chapters. They all fall
under the U.S. umbrella, and work
within the framework of the largest
humanitarian organization in
the universe – the network of the
International Red Cross Chapters.
With just a five-person staff the
local chapter is capable of helping
thousands of people every
year – typically on a daily basis –
because the chapter thrives as a 98
percent volunteer organization. It
carries out the mission of preventing
and alleviating human suffering
in the face of emergencies by
mobilizing the power of about 350
volunteers with about an $800,000
budget.
Here’s the astounding fact that
demonstrates how the free-market
approach boosts philanthropy:
All $800,000 comes from within
Whatcom and Skagit, and all on
donations. Fund-Raiser is the Mt.
Baker Chapter staff’s middle name.
Jayne Heininger, the chief operating
officer of the regional Red
Cross, said, “We receive no funding
from our national organiza-
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