by Nikko W. Naugle

Sounder contributor

Have you used the new school track? Do you ever visit or donate to the food bank? Have you ever needed housing assistance? Have you taken classes in the elementary school about emotional awareness?

Hilary Canty, executive director of the Orcas Island Community Foundation, is a BIG part of making all these amazing things happen. She is also a dedicated volunteer EMT at Orcas Island Fire and Rescue.

Canty’s early life had a big impact on the way she lives her life now. She lived with seven brothers and sisters, and in her neighborhood, some families had 10 or more kids. There were approximately 70 kids in their neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Sometimes they stayed up until midnight with fun and games then managed to sneak out again for another hour of fun. Being around so many people helped her learn about big groups and be comfortable surrounded by many people.

She learned her biggest lesson about people at a young age when her father got an aneurysm and a vessel in his brain ruptured. The whole community helped. Many families brought dinners and treats and provided holiday celebrations. She never forgot that kindness and consequently dedicated herself to helping people!

Her early life affected me personally, too. After my mother, Laura Wheelock, died, Canty brought delicious dinners, soups and hand-picked garden salads to our house each week for an entire year. Thank you, Hilary!

We’re all very fortunate Canty landed on Orcas Island. She and her husband met at Evergreen State College. Friends of theirs from Evergreen lived on Orcas, so they came here to check it out in 1990. They loved the community and stayed, working as caretakers at Eagle Lake. Next, she took a job at the Orcas Island Elementary School. When the opportunity for the OICF Executive Director position became available, she applied and was thrilled to be offered it. She loves her job, and has helped the foundation increase its capacity in a big way over the last several years.

OICF affects school kids in many ways, from what Canty told me. They provide funding for kids’ programs like Safe San Juans and Alexandria Romero to teach social and emotional awareness; the school garden; Farm to Classroom and the Funhouse; as well as others like the food bank, the dental van and the play structure at Moran State Park. They are also planning to fund a new playground at the Village Green. This is all possible because so many generous donors support the work of the OICF. For example, the Henigsons have funded a lot of projects including expansions, redesigns and now the new school track they’re building in honor of Bob Henigson.

So, you can see that Canty and the foundation, with community support, are responsible for so many things. Jeez, Canty must be busy. That’s a lot of resources for the people of Orcas Island.

Not only does Canty do all this work for the foundation, but also she volunteers as an EMT! Canty sometimes gets scared when somebody’s really sick, but when she gets there she helps calm them. She runs a call an average of once a week. She has an understanding Board of Trustees, so if she has to leave immediately, they let her go. Hilary says that the favorite part about her jobs is people.

Canty doesn’t seem to have much free time, but when she does, “I like to garden, go walking with pals and my dog, quilt and knit,” she said. Her husband studied gardening at Evergreen State College and that’s how she got into it. “We’ve been gardening ever since.”

So, I hope that you can see, Canty is a generous, responsible and fun woman who makes a big positive impact on our community. She helps all people, regardless of who they are, motivated by the kindness others have given her.

“The work of the foundation is made possible because of the contributions of so many in this community,” Canty said. “I am just fortunate to be able to facilitate them.”

I want more people to know Canty, and wish we were all as helpful as she is.

Big thanks to Canty for the interview, my teachers Jenny and Don Johnston for helping me edit, Colleen Smith for running it in the paper and my parents, Markus and Stacy, for helping me edit, too.

Nine-year-old Nikko Naugle is in the third grade at Orcas Island Elementary School.