Giving back to the Puget Sound community

By Katrina White, President of the Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound

The Boeing Employees Community Fund (ECF), a nonprofit organization uniquely powered by the collective efforts of Boeing employees and retirees, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year through service to Pacific Northwest communities.  We have ambitions to make this next year the best ever for ECF and its community partners. 

The first ECF chapter was established in 1948 to combine and effectively manage employee contributions for greater community impact. Since then, ECF has grown to 20 chapters representing nearly all Boeing U.S. sites. ECF donors are elected to local grantmaking committees and work together determining to which community projects funding is donated. The organization is one of the largest of its kind in the world. 

Nationally, ECF chapters have supported 378 nonprofit organizations by contributing approximately $1 billion to the communities in which they operate. Here in the Pacific Northwest, Boeing’s Puget Sound chapter is the largest and most active in the country. It contributed nearly $5 million to organizations throughout Washington State in 2023, and more than $650 million since its founding. 

“The ECF Puget Sound Chapter makes grants to health and human services nonprofits to positively impact the lives of children, families, and individuals,” said Katrina White, President, Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound. “ECF allows employees and retirees to pool their donations to make an even greater impact in our local communities.” 

One of the many organizations partnered with ECF Puget Sound is Housing Hope and affiliate HopeWorks, which participated in the recent ECF 75th anniversary celebration at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry. 

“We stand united in acknowledging the profound impact that Housing Hope and HopeWorks, fueled by the generosity of ECF, have had on homelessness and poverty reduction in our region,” said Donna Moulton of Housing Hope and HopeWorks. “It’s not just a collaboration; it’s a testament to the power of collective action, community support, and shared values.”

Another project ECF has been proud to partner with is the opening of Evergreen Manor Family Services Center, operated by Evergreen Recovery Centers in Everett. Evergreen Manor is a new home for pregnant and parenting moms and provides childcare for mothers facing challenges such as addiction and recovery. The Puget Sound chapter of the ECF made a $500,000 grant in 2023 to support the construction of the facility. 

The Pacific Northwest is the birthplace of The Boeing Company – Bill Boeing founded the company in 1916 in a shipyard on Seattle’s Duwamish River. Washington is where most of Boeing’s innovative products are designed and built, and the success of the company is largely due to the talent and community support of the people in the state. 

Boeing has more employees in Washington than anywhere else in the world, which is a significant reason the Puget Sound chapter of ECF is so successful. ECF donors are committed to improving not only the communities that they live in, but they also have been supportive of Boeing since the beginning. For the past 75 years, ECF has partnered with programs and organizations that improve access to education resources, workforce and skills development, supporting active-duty and veteran service members and their families, and so many more. ECF will continue to work hand in hand with Washington organizations to build, grow, and improve our neighborhoods and communities.