After almost 80 years of giving in Western Washington, the Medina Foundation announced Tuesday it has nearly reached its goal of spending down its remaining resources.
A final round of transformational grants — each between $1 million and $5 million — were awarded to 42 nonprofits, to be used for endowments, capital campaigns or program expansion, according to a news release from Medina.
Combined with grants made earlier in the year, the foundation will give away nearly $110 million in 2026.
“Now is a perfect time to make grants with the potential for outsized impact across the region,” said Medina Foundation Board President Margaret Clapp. “These are the largest individual grants we’ve ever made. The funds are future-focused, for organizations that have a history of changing lives.”
The Medina Foundation funds a broad array of nonprofits including those that support education, youth development and economic opportunity. It also grants resources to organizations that focus on housing assistance and hunger prevention.
The foundation was founded on Christmas Eve, 1947, by Norton Clapp and his wife, Evelyn. Clapp earned his law degree at the University of Chicago and worked for Weyerhaeuser, ultimately as its president and chairman. The foundation's current board includes family members from the last generation to know and work with Clapp.
The sunsetting process was announced in 2024. The following year saw the foundation’s last year of regular grantmaking, with $6.2 million awarded in 226 grants. In early 2026, 195 long-time grantees received $14 million in exit grants. Nearly all of those were for general operating support, with no proposal required. The grants were intended to show gratitude for incredible work, acknowledge long-time partnerships with Medina and offer some runway before the foundation closed, the news release stated.
The job training nonprofit FareStart received $5 million in the giving round announced Tuesday.
“The Medina Foundation’s investment will help FareStart create lasting pathways to employment and economic stability for individuals facing significant barriers to opportunity,” said FareStart CEO Patrick D’Amelio. “The impact will be deeply personal for the people whose lives are changed, but it will also extend far beyond them, strengthening families, businesses and our broader community. We believe the return on this investment, both human and economic, will be substantial and enduring.”
The Medina Foundation expects to officially close its doors in early 2027, its 80th anniversary year.
Grants for Thurston and Grays Harbor county organizations are listed below:
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County — $3,000,000 — A permanent home for the Yelm Boys & Girls Club
• Coastal Harvest — $1,000,000 — Strengthening rural hunger relief
• Community Youth Services Thurston County — $1,380,000 — Expanding youth behavioral health access in the South Sound
• Garden Raised Bounty (GRuB) — $2,150,000 — Raising The Barn! Transforming GRuB for the next generation of farmers, leaders and community
• Rochester Organization of Families — $4,500,000 — Building our future
• YMCA of Grays Harbor — $2,600,000 — The Grays Harbor Generations Transformation Project
