<quick note: The donate buttons are not live – I’m waiting on a dedicated page at the Smithsonian. Let me know if you want to donate, and I’ll let you know as soon as the page is up.>
!!!!!Thanks to those who donated after the first dinner!!!!!
I’m shifting gears. Rather than fundraising for some small CWU things, the new goal is to fund an internship at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (or National Zoo, Air and Space, etc) – dedicated to a CWU Student. One per year. 10 weeks during the summer.
We will continue to have dinners at the Red Pickle. 2025/2026 dinners will be Tuesdays September 30, February 3, and May 26: 5:00 – 7:00.
This will be an epic opportunity for a CWU student (can you imagine the resume boost?) and will help support the Smithsonian.
The bummer is that these cost $8000 ($7k for the student stipend, $1k for travel). Which means upping my fundraising game.
The good thing is that the Smithsonian has an entire internship office (they have over 1000 fully funded interns per year) – they will handle accepting funds, managing applications, finding interns a place to live, professional development, social stuff, etc etc.
Honestly, I want to do one….
Some details… still somewhat TBD.
First, applications will be due through the Smithsonian’s website: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/internships/ Note the requirements and deadlines. The questions will be tweaked slightly, and potential applicants will be given a list of specific internship opportunities available they can apply for. I’ll get word out to campus in January.
Once the deadline has passed, I will receive the applications and put together a small committee: me representing the earth sciences, Holly representing the life sciences, Carin Thomas representing chemistry, and one person from the Smithsonian. Andy Piacsek (physics) will serve as an alternate if needed. We’ll pick a winner and turn things back over to the Smithsonian.
The winner will need to come back to Ellensburg and give a public presentation about their experience at our fall dinner. The presentation will be open to pretty much anyone – and will be streamed via zoom to donors who can’t make it in person.
Only students majoring in geology, biology, environmental studies, chemistry, and physics will be eligible (gotta do something to make this manageable).
The Smithsonian nixxed calling the winner a “Krakentern” (after my dog) – we settled on the Manastash Intern. Which is close, because Kraken is the Hound of the Manastash (her favorite place to hike). Thus, all advertising pics include Kraken at the ridge.
As always, dinners are hosted at the Red Pickle. They’ve offered to donate a percentage of that night’s profits. Thanks, Mario and Ale!
Keep in mind that you don’t have to join us for dinner to donate, you can push the donate button at will! 🙂
Progress toward $8000
- After first dinner (October): $1475
- After first round of email requests (October?):
- After second dinner (February):
- After second round of emails (February):
- After third dinner (April):
Donation levels
Gold ($1000 or more)
Silver ($500 -$999)
- Bob Hickey
Bronze ($250-$499)
- Kathy Hey and Marty Miller
- Andy Piacsek and Lisa Ely
- Alfaro Concept Restaurants (Red Pickle and The Ridge)
Side note, fall 2025 starts year three of my fundraising dinners. In the first two years, we raised $7915 for the CWU Wildcat Food Pantry, Friends of the Brooks Library, the DHC emergency assistance fund, the CWU Cap and Gown fund, the Kittitas Audubon Society scholarship fund, and the CWU Men of Color Affinity Group.
