Season of Gratitude: Thankful for Our Community
As we near the close of a remarkable year, we extend our sincerest gratitude for our communities' partnerships and generosity. Your support has made it possible to continue our mission of preserving the ACFL through education, outreach, and stewardship.
The year 2025 has been filled with many adventures, including the grand opening of our Forest Discovery Center, joining the team planning Earth Day in Anacortes, offering an additional week with an additional age bracket of Forest Discovery Summer Camp for middle schoolers, partnering with the Anacortes Public Library for Libraries Love Lakes hike series, introducing October Camp, and Homeschool Field Trips. We excitedly welcomed a new Executive Director, 80 new members, and four additional board members.
The year isn't over yet! We still have new merchandise coming in any day now, and a special members-only coupon coming to inboxes soon! We have many open days (listed below) to visit our Forest Discovery Center, where you can check out not only our exhibits but a our free sustainable gift wrap station and DIY tree cookie ornament station. Our hike calendar is full of some of our most popular free educational hikes - including our Happy Holly-Days stewardship hike, where we take a stroll through the ACFL and pull invasive English Holly that is stealing resources from our native plants, and our mushroom-themed family hike (more information on these at the end of this email)!
As you plan your year-end giving, we invite you to remember Friends of the ACFL. All these offerings we have are not possible without our members. Contributions through direct donations, IRA distributions, or donor-advised funds provide essential support for our environmental education, outreach, and stewardship programs. Gifts made by December 31 are tax-deductible for the 2025 tax year.
Thank you for ensuring that our forests remain thriving and welcoming places for generations to come. May this holiday season bring you peace, joy, and time to connect with the natural beauty that surrounds us.