This week we meet the new Director of the Center for Washington Cultural Traditions Langston Collin Wilkins PhD. The Center for Washington Cultural Traditions is a program of Humanities Washington in partnership with the Washington State Arts Commission. The Center is barely a year old, but they are already in the process of documenting, researching and archiving the diverse cultural traditions in our state. Not only do they want to collect data, but is just as important to them to distribute it.Dr. Wilkins explains two programs the Center is running; a cultural traditions survey, and an apprenticeship program.Learn more online at www.waculture.org

This week we speak with the Executive Director of Washington's National Park Fund, Laurie Ward.Washington has three National Parks and the work of WNPF is to supplement their budgets with monetary gifts raised as a private non-profit. Laurie describes the close relationship between Washington's National Park Fund and the Superintendents at Olympic, Mt. Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks to determine the "to do list" and many projects to support that would otherwise go un-funded.Learn more about Washington's National Park Fund online at www.wnpf.org

This week we meet Ronald Lim from Bloodworks Northwest and Bill Harper with Degree 37.Degree 37 is a software developer that works with non-profits like Bloodworks NW to engage millennials and young people and to make it easy to donate blood.Bill tells us that his own need of 33 surgeries and use of 267 units of blood made it personal for him as he worked on the Bloodworks App. He tells us that donating blood is the best and easiest as well as most effective way to save a life in an afternoon.You can download the App at Google Play or the Apple App store or by texting blood to 91985Learn more online at www.bloodworksnw.org

This week we’ll hear from a local grass-roots organization that serves as an emergency response unit to the homeless among us with babies.

Star Lalario is the President and founder of Babies of Homelessness and Angela Harmon is the Vice-President. Babies of Homelessness work the streets in our community seeking out babies that are homeless. Delivering diapers, formula and food can be life saving for the youngest and most fragile of the homeless. Homeless mothers are almost desperate to keep their babies hidden for fear of losing them to the system. Star and Angela tell us that Babies of Homelessness does not judge, but instead offers hope along with those diapers.

Learn more online at www.babiesofhomelessness.org as well as on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BabiesOfHomelessness/

This week we’ll hear the inspiring words of Omari Amili. Omari is an author, community leader, and a speaker for Humanities Washington. He leads workshops and has developed curriculum to lead those being released from prison for their re-entry to society. Omari speaks with first-hand knowledge on the subject. He relates his own story of a troubled childhood, dropping out of school, running street scams and eventually getting 30 felony convictions and sent to prison. Upon his release and finding only dead end jobs in his future, he dedicated himself to higher education.

Our short visit with him barely touches the surface of the talks he gives for Humanities Washington on the subject “From Crime to the Classroom: How Education Changes Lives.”

Learn more about Omari Amili on his website www.omariamili.com and learn more about Humanities Washington online at www.humanities.org

This week we speak with Rev. Rick Reynolds, the Executive Director of Operation Nightwatch.

Operation Nightwatch has been supporting the homeless in Seattle and King County for over 50 years.

With three primary programs; Food & Shelter, Housing, and Street Ministry, they have touched individuals on the edge and have been able to change lives one at a time. Every night they open up their dispatch center and feed over 100 people and then find them shelter around town. This is staffed primarily by volunteer groups.

In addressing the big picture of homelessness and poverty, Rick tells us that if we just acknowledge the humanity in another person, we can figure out the rest of it.

To learn more or to volunteer at Operation Nightwatch go online: www.seattlenightwatch.org or email [email protected]

This being American Heart Month, we take the opportunity to speak with a cardiologist. Dr. Ameet Parikh is a cardiologist with Pacific Medical Centers and discusses the number one killer among adults in the country: Heart Disease. Different strategies can be employed to prevent heart disease and encourage people to live heart healthy lives. Knowing your numbers and family history is just the start.

Find healthy heart resources online at www.heart.org or www.pacificmedicalcenters.org

This week we speak with Chrys Bertolotto, the Natural Resources Manager of the WSU Snohomish County Extension.

Washington State University runs extension programs in nearly every county in the state, and Snohomish County has a Natural Resources program called Beach Watchers. Beach Watchers is made up of fully trained volunteers who are dedicated to the protection of the Salish Sea waters, particularly Puget Sound, through education, research, and stewardship programs.

Chrys tells us that after formal training, each Beach Watcher gets to craft their own volunteer experience to meet their interests and schedules. It is fun and the enthusiasm is contagious. Enrollment for the 2019 program is open now through Friday, March 8th. Training begins March 15th.

Learn more online, email or phone:

https://extension.wsu.edu/snohomish/beachwatchers-2/

425-357-6020

This week we hear from Book-It Theatre and their unique way of producing for the stage.

Co-founding Artistic Director Myra Platt tells of Book-Its 30 year mission of transforming great literature into great theatre through simple and sensitive production and to inspiring its audiences to read. Literacy is a multi-dimensional enhancement to life, yet illiteracy is a fundamental obstacle for one-third of King County. In a nation where many adults read so poorly that they earn significantly below the threshold poverty level for an individual, Book-It’s mission to inspire people to read becomes increasingly more important.

American Junkie by Tom Hanson runs February 16 - March 10.

A fast-paced ride through Seattle’s grunge-era music scene, American Junkie looks at the man behind the addiction and the power heroin can have on people’s lives.

Learn more and buy tickets online at www.book-it.org

This week we speak with Sarah Slack, the founder and Executive Director of The Tears Foundation. The Tears Foundation supports grieving families both emotionally and financially after a pregnancy or infant death. Many young couples are not able to cope with a still birth or sudden infant death; then add to that the financial burden of funeral costs and you will find people who need support.

Sarah shares that the origins of The Tears Foundation came from her own loss, as well as how it has spread across the country and now internationally because of people who empathize with others.

Learn more online at www.thetearsfoundation.org