Orcas Rec leadership has reason to hope the program will be fully funded in 2011.

But for now, they are requesting help from the community to keep the program afloat for one more year: not cash, but pledges.

“We had to scramble at the end of last year, and now we’re having to scramble again. This is not going to happen next year,” said board member Bob Phalan.

He said the repeated requests are beginning to weary generous community donors, not to mention the Orcas Rec board.

“It’s a terrible message – Orcas Rec is closing! Save us!” said Orcas Rec coordinator Linda Sheridan of the past year’s repeated pleas for cash infusions from the community.

On March 19, San Juan County Parks and Rec supervisor Dona Wuthnow contacted Sheridan with an ultimatum from the county council: raise $10,000 by the end of the month, or the council will begin closing the Orcas Rec program starting April 1, concluding the process by the end of April.

“Dona has been hugely supportive and has done everything she possibly could to keep us viable,” Sheridan said.

“We admittedly have a large nut to crack,” said Phalan, who immediately picked up the phone and set about cracking it.

By April 1, Sheridan and members of the Orcas Rec Advisory Board had gained $8,000 in pledges from community members, who said they don’t want to put up cash and still see the program close. Orcas Rec won’t begin accepting the pledged donations until it is assured of its operation through November. Sheridan and the Advisory Board will meet with the county council on April 7 to determine the fate of the program. The Sounder has not yet learned of the outcome of that meeting.

The current goal is to obtain pledges from the community totaling $53,000 to guarantee solvency for the 2010 budget, mitigating the risk of finding the program yet again in the red at year’s end.

“The long term plan is to get swallowed up by Orcas Park and Rec,” said Phalan, who thinks there’s a good possibility the Orcas Park and Rec district may put a levy measure on the August ballot that could supply funding for 2011. “Orcas Rec is hugely on their radar screen,” said Phalan. “I hope that levy will be met with open arms.”

In the meantime, the program is in crucial need of support pledges.

Although the 2009 San Juan County budget, drafted in November of 2008, set aside the normal yearly amount of $16,500 for Orcas Rec, no funds were actually given, and in July of 2009 the county sent word that there would be no money for Orcas Rec.

Due to this gap in funding, the organization was forced to use the entire $14,500 it had traditionally carried as a buffer, and to ask for funds from the community just to break even for the year. In the last three months of 2009, the community donated $20,000 to put Orcas Rec in the black.

“The community really came through. That was really great … but in January we were back to zero,” said Sheridan.

The county has set aside no funds for Orcas Rec in 2010, although it provides the program with office space, phones, tech support and unpaid access to the county’s benefit plan.

Orcas Rec has been running on an annual budget of $132,000 recently, but belt tightening has reduced the 2010 budget to $120,000. User fees add up to about $50,000, and grants normally supply about $20,000. Annual donations through private individuals, business sponsors, and fundraising efforts normally average $40,000 to $50,000.

But donations have been down lately, and the county council is not willing to risk finding the program yet again in the red at year’s end.

Sheridan and assistant Gina Burger have already made voluntary budget cuts, including reduced office hours and voluntary furloughs. They will be making further cuts by evaluating programs that haven’t broken even in past years and determining in each case whether to find a community sponsor, raise user fees, or cut that particular program entirely.

“I love the job and I love the kids,” said Sheridan. “But the fundraising is the tough piece. We definitely appreciate the support from the community.”