Community Projects


Class of 2010


Philanthropy Experience Project (P.E.P. Squad)
Cindy Bezanson (Issaquah); Robin Carey (Renton); Tony Gee (Redmond); Heather Harrison (Renton); Mike James (Bellevue); Julie Metteer (Kirkland); Mollie Purcell (Bellevue)

The Philanthropy Experience Project, or P.E.P. Squad provided an opportunity for youth to learn the importance of giving back and the satisfaction and sense of belonging that is created through involvement and support of others.

  • Youth Stewardship Team Philanthropy Experience Project (word doc)
  • The P.E.P. Journey and the Project (powerpoint presentation)
  • Pep Squad Kirkland Reporter article (pdf)

Community Building
Shari Carter (Issaquah); Dan Speicher, (Kirkland); Leslie Thurston (Woodinville)

The Community Building Team created a plan that aided Eastside Latino Leadership Forum (ELLF) in refining its roles, set priorities, and establish a more effective and sustainable organization structure to make a positive difference in the lives of eastside Latinos.

  • Community Building Project Report (word doc)

Affordable Housing for Working Families
Alice Chao (Redmond); Nancy Corning (Bothell); John Kaschko (Sammamish); Stacy Liedle (Kenmore); Doug Schumacher, (Woodinville)

The Affordable Housing team partnered with A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) to develop tools to influence policy makers and to educate the general public by putting familiar faces on the affordable housing issue while creating a case for change.


Vote on the Eastside (V.O.T.E.)
Terry Claypool (Redmond); TJ Ginthner (Issaquah); John Hickey (Sammamish); Ted Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley); Carrie Rorem (North Bend); Lin Zhou (Sammamish)

In an effort to increase political engagement, awareness and voter participation, the V.O.T.E. team created a public service announcement (PSA) package, working with community partners, targeting non-or limited-English speakers and distributed it throughout the Eastside.


Urban Farmers
Chris Bailey (Bothell); Dan Donlan (Woodinville); Kim McSheridan (Maple Valley); Jason Popp (Bellevue); Jennifer Spall (Issaquah); Irmgard Tank (Sammamish)

Connect community members who have excess fruit or vegetables, with volunteers who are able to help harvest it, in order to improve the availability of fresh produce and fruit for local community food banks.


Building Community through Great Third Places
David Funk (Bellevue); Juan Hernandez (Bellevue); Elizabeth Hill (Duvall); Kim Shaw (Seattle)

For the growing and diverse Eastside population, the team worked with various public agencies to define safe and comfortable public spaces that encourage community members to connect.


Class of 2009


Emergency Preparedness Training for Community Leaders
Jennifer Aragon, (Duvall); Doreen Wise Booth, (Kirkland); Betina Finley, (Bellevue); Lisa Francalangia, (Issaquah); Deanne Huff, (Renton); Stuart Linscott, (Issaquah)

The Team's neighborhood preparedness training gives communities the confidence and competency needed to take action during a disaster, which ultimately frees up our local emergency responders to assist with more extreme emergencies.
  • Article on Emergency Preparedness (word doc)
  • Map Your Neighborhood-Helping our Communities get Training for Emergency Preparedness (word doc)

Life skills for Eastside Teens
Herman Calzadillas, (Kirkland); Cheryl Jensen, (Bellevue); Nancy LaCombe, (Sammamish); Mike Nesteroff, (Bellevue)

The Team developed a pilot program to be used within an existing life skills curriculum, beginning with the 2007-2008 school year at Robinswood Alternative High School. This program can be utilized in any school or classroom, preparing youth for a left after high school.


Career Crossroads for Youth - connecting East King County teenage youth to future career pathways
Earl Bell, (Mercer Island); Helga Ding, (Sammamish); Victor Mizumori, (Redmond); Douglas Topp, (Bellevue)

The Team targeted "out-of-mainstream" and "disadvantaged" teens living in Eastside communities, and provided a forum by which they were personally engaged and challenged to "Dare to Dream" about career possibilities, and to become successful and productive adults.

  • Press Release - "DARE TO DREAM" (word doc)
  • Project Career Crossroads - Dare to Dream (word doc)
  • Survey Results (word doc)

It's Cool to be Green on the Eastside
Denise Bugallo, (Woodinville); Nancy Dilloo, (Sammamish); Robyn Govan, (Newcastle); Terence Hsiao, (Woodinville); Bob Maruska, (Kirkland); John Soltys, (North Bend); Mark Woodward, (Seattle)

The Team created and distributed 1,000 Earth Kits throughout the Eastside containing tools that encouraged environmentally sustainable behavior and made an immediate local impact on our environment.


Putting a Face on Affordable Housing
Lynn Briody, (Bellevue); Will Daniels, (Seattle); Jennifer Filipovich, (Redmond); Michelle McKinnon, (Woodinville); Linda Hendrickson, (Kirkland); Terry Pollard, (Bellevue); Hamid Qaasim, (Renton)

Partnering with A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH), the Team developed a prototype brochure and PowerPoint that keeps officials in ARCH's 15-member cities informed on major trends in housing affordability in their cities and the region, and motivates the broader community to get involved in solving the problem.


Class of 2008


Civic Engagement: The Value of the Story
Bruce Bassett (Mercer Island); Stephanie Carstens (Bellevue); Regina Glenn (Bellevue); Kirsten O'Malley (Issaquah); Tom Tanaka (Bellevue)

In order to increase engagement in the community, Team One explored what motivates volunteers to take active roles. They found four key areas that let to engagement: A sense of community; personal values; the nature of the task itself; and unique personal motivations. Perhaps key to their findings is that deeper involvement tended to grow out of other activities in the same organization, with people they knew, and, specifically, people who had recruited them!

Homelessness on the Eastside
Meghan Altimore (Issaquah); Angela Barrie (Newcastle); Charlie Bush (Prosser); Francois Larrivee (Bellevue); Hector Martinez (Bellevue)

In 2004, Seattle ranked 10th nationwide with a homeless population of 7,315. On the Eastside, we've just begun recognizing the depth of the problem, as the Tent City issues took center stage in 2005/06. Team Two members were among the 5500 volunteers who took part in conducting the Eastside One Night Count of the Homeless starting at 3:00AM on January 27, 2006. Helping raise awareness of this growing Eastside issue is a central goal of this project.

  • Final Report: Quantifying the Problem of Homelessness on the Eastside
    (word doc)

Dawn of the Sunrise Side - Exploring Hunger on the Eastside
Jeni Craswell (Redmond); Kathy Hunter (California); Michael King (Indiana); Dan Leahy (Woodinville); Joe McIalwain (Edmonds); Elsa Steele (Seattle); Patricia Lee Smith (Mercer Island); Penny Sweet (Kirkland)

Homelessness? Hunger? Do such problems actually exist on the Eastside? Yes. Hopelink's six food banks serve over 15,000 people representing 90 different languages, dialects, and ethnicities. Team Three took a very personal approach to learning and determining how they could be catalysts for change, including completing several service projects. They conducted focus groups to help identify specific dietary needs among the numerous diverse ethnic populations in need, many of whom don't understand English or American foods.

  • Final Report: Community Consciousness Raising: The Dawn of the Sunrise Side (word doc)
    - Team 3 Group Presentation.ppt (powerpoint)

Eastside Connections / Community Awareness
Laurene Burton (Bothell); Quinn Elliott (Seattle); Scott Harlan (Redmond); Stephanie Mapelli (Seattle); Trinity Parker (Issaquah); Scott Sadler (Renton)

This team took Leadership Eastside's vision of connections literally and into cyberspace. Team Four created www.eastsideconnections.com to connect Eastside residents with Eastside resources. There are nine major categories of internet linked throughout the region: business resources; cities and government; community connections; education; emergency information; kids and families; health and services; recreation; and transportation.


Climbing Higher with Math and Science
Sandi Hines (Bothell); Laura Johnson (Seattle); Jeff McMeekin (Issaquah); Sandi Hines (Bothell); MJ Sanker (Duvall); Liz Swanson (Issaquah)

Team Five partnered with the Bellevue Family YMCA in their week-long Teen Extreme Rocks & Ropes Camp to engage teens 12 - 15 to use and learn math concepts. They designed a cool journal with fun facts and quotes, glossary of climbing terms and math challenges. Consider the speed demon quiz: how many ways can you climb to the top? What's the best route? How long do you think that route will take? After you are done, write down how long it really took and compare!

  • The Seattle Times "Climbing high with math" (link)
  • YMCA Teen Extreme Rocks & Ropes Camp incorporating Leadership Eastside Team Project, Climbing Higher with Math and Science (word doc)

Community Mentor Connections for Education
Carlos Aragon (Duvall); Scott Bartholomaus (Mukilteo); Stefanie Beighle (Bellevue); Carol Helland (Redmond); Will Ibershof (Duvall); John Marchione (Redmond); Valarie Schmidt (Maple Valley); Jim Stevens (Bothell)

Team Six partnered with Riverview School District to provide a template for a mentoring program that is sustainable and widely adaptable for school district use. This included a mentoring handbook that will be used by students and mentors in completing the senior project; the necessary forms for project participation, such as volunteer application and cover letter, school and state patrol screening, student-mentor contract, and student and mentor exit surveys; and an interactive database system for linking mentors to school seniors based on areas of interest and expertise.
-- Final Report: LE Team 6, May 2606.doc (word doc)