If you’ve spent any time at the Seattle Program Center, you’ve probably come across John Wick in the basement, building test friction slabs or adjusting plumbing to install a washing machine, or behind the climbing wall removing bee hives, or attending an event. A mechanical engineer by trade and longtime employee of Boeing, John has shared his professional skills along with his love of the outdoors with The Mountaineers and the greater outdoor community.
The outdoors was not foreign for John, who grew up in a family that fished and hunted, but he wanted to learn to climb. John took the Basic Climbing course in 1968, when he was 15 years old. After climbing with friends, he realized he wanted to learn
more and signed-up for Basic and then Intermediate and began volunteering for The Mountaineers, which is a requirement for Intermediate graduation. This was in 1974. Since then, John has taught and led field trips for climbing and sea kayaking, and contributed in countless ways in support of The Mountaineers.
As an employee of Boeing, John is able to make a $500 donation and submit a request for a dollar for dollar match by Boeing to qualify for Peak Society — a gift club for members who give $1,000 in unrestricted funding every year. He also volunteers hours for corporate giving support from Boeing.
Last year, Boeing donated $35.9 million dollars through corporate giving, including matching donations, and foundation support to Washington State based non-profits. Boeing matches donations dollar-for-dollar and $10 an hour for every 1-hour volunteered to The Mountaineers for active employees. For retired employees of Boeing, they offer half the amount, which is pretty incredible.
When asked why giving to The Mountaineers in dollars and volunteers hours is so important, he says: “I see time as an investment. Just like dollars. I carefully choose how I can contribute in ways that will have value greater than the act.”
He adds, “It gives me personal satisfaction. And it’s my way of keeping the Mountaineers going. I take pride in what we’ve created — physical and organizational — and leave people to take it forward as they will.”
We're grateful for all the members and donors who submit their membership dues, financial contributions, and volunteer hours for matches to their eligible employers. The unrestricted support financial support we receive through corporate giving programs allows us to build capacity and to deliver on our mission.
The opportunities to double your impact are tremendous.
Depending on your companies matching gift program, you may be eligible to submit your tax-deductible annual membership dues (sorry, course and activity fees and tickets are not eligible), individual donations, hours volunteered and automatic payroll deductions to your employer for a corporate match. We encourage you to ask your human resources department about your company’s matching gift program.
Visit www.mountaineers.org/employer-giving for more info.
Thank you to the following companies: Aetna Foundation, Alaska Airlines, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Boeing Company Gift Match Program, Carillon Point, CDK Global, Expedia Gives Matching Gift Program, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Outerwall, Primus International, Russell Investments, Starbucks Coffee Company, Symetra, White Pages, Inc. Through donor and corporate matching, more than $89,000 was raised to support getting people outside with us in 2015.
This article originally appeared in our Winter 2017 issue of Mountaineer magazine. To view the original article in magazine form and read more stories from our publication, click here.
