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Spotlight with Laurie Hardie

Each week host Laurie Hardie brings you the issues affecting the Pacific Northwest and the people making a difference in our community and sometimes beyond. Expect compelling conversations with local leaders and influencers. Spotlight is dedicated to presenting you with issues that matter – including education, health, mental health, and the environment.


Latest Episodes

Spotlighting City Fruit

Bennett Walks is the Harvest and Public Stewardship Program Director, and Tiare Gil is the Education and Volunteer Programs Manager of City Fruit. They help tree owners and community orchardists grow healthy fruit, provide assistance in harvesting and preserving fruit. Promote the equitable sharing of extra fruit with neighbors, and work to protect public fruit trees. CF takes a holistic approach to their work and have programs form education and outreach to tree care and harvest advocating for equitable food policy and sustainable orchard car and food practices.
City Fruit

Spotlighting WA 529 College Savings Plan

WA 529 College Saving Plan Enrollment Ends May 31st.
Luke Minor with WA 529 talks about the collage saving plan and how it can set students up for success. College is one of the biggest expenses people face in their lifetime. 529 plans were created to help parents, future students, friends, and family save money tax-free for eligible expenses, like tuition, fees, room & board, books, and supplies.
There are two kinds of 529 plans, Savings and Prepaid. Families can choose to save in one type of plan or the other, or both to diversify their college savings:
529 Savings Plans, like the DreamAhead College Investment Plan, allow you to pick an investment option and save money based on the market’s performance.
WA 529
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Spotlighting Beat the Bridge

It is the 41st annual Beat the Bridge. Hannah Jilek is the Development Coordinator and Ava Miller is the Ambassador for Beat the Bridge. We will also be chatting with Ava’s dad Dan Miller. The event is Sunday 5/21/23 at Husky Stadium to raise money for research. Beat the Bridge is your chance to show the world that together, we can conquer type 1 diabetes (T1D). You will power more research, enable more advocacy and fund more support for the 1.45 million Americans living with T1D.
Beat the Bridge

Spotlighting #Binging Sober

#BingingSober is a practice Colleen Ryan-Hensly used to manage mental health challenges for two decades. It focuses on the value of taking time away from intoxication via mind-numbing, unhealthy escapism in all of its forms – including alcohol, social media, processed food, and more – rather than permanently abstaining from any single habit. The practice emphasizes the replacement of toxic escapisms, or the overuse of potentially toxic escapisms, with natural escapes to support lifelong change and improvements in quality of life.
#BingingSober

Spotlighting Give Big PAWS and ChimpsNW.org

We all get a good feeling when we show up for others – whether it’s a family member, neighbor, or community organization. Giving is supposed feel good — and who couldn’t use more of that? 
On May 2 to 3, visit GiveBIGWa.org to discover and donate to nonprofits that are making good things happen in your community and around our state. 
Heidi Wills is the Executive Director of PAWS. PAWS is people helping cats, dogs and wild animals go home and thrive – whether home is the family room or the forest. They do this by rehabilitating orphaned and injured wildlife, sheltering and adopting homeless cats and dogs, and educating the community to inspire compassionate action for animals. PAWS
Diana Goodrich is the Co Director of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. CSNW is one of only a handful of sanctuaries in the country that cares for chimpanzees. CSNW was founded in 2003 to provide sanctuary for chimpanzees discarded from the entertainment and biomedical testing industries. The sanctuary also cares for three rescued cows and a steer who provide grazing services in exchange for our affection and occasional treats. All of the chimpanzees at CSNW enjoy a rich social life in an exciting indoor and outdoor environment where they have choices to make every day. Each day brings new adventures, and we chronicle their transformations and experiences on our blog. Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
GIVE BIG

Spotlighting Give Big WA with 501 Commons and KNKX

GiveBIG is an annual online fundraising event for more than 1400 nonprofits serving Washington.  
Joey Cohn is the General Manager of KNKX a public station in Seattle that plays Jazz. They depend on the donations of their listeners to operate.
Nancy Long is the Executive Director of The 501 commons the governing non profit putting on “Give Big WA”.
On May 2-3. Visit GiveBIGWA.org to discover and donate to nonprofits that are making good things happen. The platform is open for Early Giving now.
 Go to GiveBIGWa.org. You can discover nonprofits by searched for the name, mission, population focus, or community they serve.
Every donation makes good things happen. Get that giving feeling.
Give Big

Spotlighting Art Soiree with Sharon McNeil

Sharon McNeil talks about the mental and physical benefits of art for baby boomers. When people retire they often need something to challenge them to keep learning and continue or even begin being creative. Her art soiree is for beginners/novice artists who are open to giving it a try and learning something new. This is an incredible way to keep your mind engaged as you age.
Sharon McNeil Art

Spotlighting Connecting with Grandkids Long Distance

Jim Marggraff is a serial inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, speaker, and an energized dad and husband. Jim founded and co-founded six Silicon Valley technology companies, and has now founded his seventh, Kinoo.com. His goal is to help grand parents connect with their grandkids even if there are many miles between them. KINOO.COM

Spotlighting Journey to Forgiveness

In his first book, pastor David Peterson looks beyond the simple and surface-level understanding of why we need to forgive and instead helps us understand how. He also introduces us to God’s complex design and the biochemical workings of our brains that explain why it’s so difficult to do. Neither clinical nor deeply theological, it’s a practical, encouraging and relatively short read that helps readers break the process of forgiveness down into manageable steps when, oftentimes, it feels impossible. Having not only battled Essential Tremors his entire life and the accompanying bullying, harassment and difficulties that have come along with it, David was sexually abused as a child. So, very few possess a better understanding of the process of forgiveness … and the profound transformation that can take place when we’re able to forgive.
Journey to Forgiveness: 21 Milestones to Freedom

Spotlighting Hope for Ukraine

Kyle Duncan author of Hope for Ukraine: Stories of Grit and Grace from the Front Lines of War. Part narrative, part wartime dispatch, Hope for Ukraine transports you into the gritty reality of war-torn Ukraine–and the front lines of faith, survival, and miraculous intervention. From scrambling to escape the bombs leveling their neighborhoods to fleeing sex traffickers in the chaos of border crossings to rescuing orphans trapped by Russian tanks, these stunning firsthand accounts tell the stories of real Ukrainians enduring terrible hardships with grit and grace.
Hope for Ukraine