{"id":8519,"date":"2026-01-29T15:50:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/?p=8519"},"modified":"2026-01-30T11:31:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T19:31:50","slug":"community-celebrates-pea-patch-ground-turning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/community-celebrates-pea-patch-ground-turning\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMUNITY CELEBRATES PEA PATCH GROUND TURNING"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Debra Lekanoff shares her support and belief in the project<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The sun was bright and the Orcas Island community came out in droves to help celebrate the Pea Patch Community Campus as the project prepares for site work to begin! More than 140 people of all ages walked onto the campus to warm up around open fire pits, enjoy hot apple cider, donuts and a short program of speakers. Attendees reviewed architectural renderings of the campus, heard updates on the project and fundraising progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pea Patch ground turning event attracted a crowd of about 140 community members.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pea Patch Project Lead Suzanne Olson<\/strong> emceed the event and spread gratitude throughout the crowd for all of the organizations, donors, neighbors and elected officials who have helped bring the project to this point. Food Bank Executive Director Amanda Sparks<\/strong> offered a land acknowledgement, reminding us that we are stewards of this land that has been called home by indigenous peoples from time immemorial. Olson introduced new Campaign Fundraising Committee co-chairs Mike Breen and Morry Cater; and Heather Stansbury<\/strong>, as she steps up into the role of Food Bank Capital Campaign Fundraising Director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highlight of the day was hearing from our District 40 Representative Debra Lekanoff<\/strong>, who traveled from Olympia to mark the occasion. Rep. Lekanoff was presented with a \u201ckey to our hearts\u201d tied to a bundle of gold ribbon that event goers had signed, as well as a batik silk scarf, handmade by Heather Stansbury<\/strong>, with a scene from the Pea Patch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rep. Debra Lekanoff receives \u201ca key to our hearts\u201d on a ribbon signed by event attendees and a handmade scarf in appreciation of her support for the project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis campus is for the community and you, the community, are creating it beautifully<\/em>,\u201d said Rep. Lekanoff. \u201cYou are filling my heart today. I\u2019ve championed this project \u2013 made it my top priority last session and again this year. The project was awarded $5M last year \u2013 during a tough budget year \u2013 and I\u2019m sponsoring your request for $800,000 this year. I believe in you and how the Pea Patch will help your community to thrive for generations.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rep. Debra Lekanoff addresses the crowd.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rep. Debra Lekanoff\u2019s support of the Pea Patch inspires applause and celebration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

County Council Chair Justin Paulsen<\/strong> accepted a card from the OPAL Board of Trustees thanking him for his commitment to affordable housing and to the project. Lisa Byers said, \u201cOPAL stands for \u2018Of People And Land.\u2019 Justin \u2013 you put an exclamation point on the people part of our work.<\/em>\u201d Paulsen addressed the crowd. \u201cThe news in the world today is hard<\/em>,\u201d he began. \u201cWe can\u2019t control what\u2019s happening out there, but we can make a difference here in our home communities. That\u2019s what the Pea Patch is all about<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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County Commission Chair Justin Paulsen addresses the crowd.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The honorary shovel bearers for the day included: Rep.Debra Lekanoff, Commissioner Justin Paulsen, Lisa Byers and Jeanne Beck (OPAL Community Land Trust), Bob Morris and Tracey Smith (Orcas Island Food Bank), Lindsay Jennings and Heidi Matson (Orcas Island Community Foundation), Charlie McCune and Beth Kirk (Salmonberry School).<\/strong> Marcela Barrientos<\/strong> was on hand to represent the Funhouse Commons. Once the dirt was turned, a group of children trailed up onto the knoll on the north end of the property and planted daffodil bulbs that will bloom each spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shovel bearers (L-R): Tracey Smith, Bob Morris, Justin Paulsen, Rep. Debra Lekanoff, Lisa Byers and her grand gals Alice and Sal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Kids planting daffodils on the knoll to grace the property year after year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This event was a perfect expression of how community comes together to make a difference. Thanks to the Lion\u2019s Club<\/strong> for the tent. Thanks to the Doty family<\/strong> for the fresh A-1 donuts! Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this event great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Attendees created art to celebrate the promise of the Pea Patch Community Campus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Everyone enjoyed the fresh donuts from the Doty family!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pea Patch Community Campus is under development at 55 Pea Patch Lane, on the historic Lavender Farm, north of Eastsound Village. The unified social services campus will include a new permanent building for our Orcas Island Food Bank with greater capacity to meet the growing needs of the community and twenty new long-term townhome rentals with supportive services to serve households with very low incomes. The Pea Patch Community Campus is a collaboration of OPAL Community Land Trust, the Orcas Island Food Bank and the Orcas community. Aprende m\u00e1s<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rep. Debra Lekanoff shares her support and belief in the project The sun was bright and the Orcas Island community came out in droves to help celebrate the Pea Patch Community Campus as the project prepares for site work to begin! More than 140 people of all ages walked onto the campus to warm up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9192214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9192214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8519"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8536,"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8519\/revisions\/8536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opalclt.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}