Naya, 26, moved to Seattle from Kansas City, Mo. in 2017 to complete a residency for a master’s degree in audiology. She graduated in May with student loan debt and recently began working part-time in the health care industry, making about $30,000 annually.

“I’d love to participate in activities that allow me to get to know my community outside of the typical young adult social interactions [like] going out dancing or checking out breweries,” she told us. “[Volunteering] is a fun way to hang out with and meet other people. You don’t always have to go out to dinner.”

Two weeks after she met with Ben, Burke, and Frank, Naya has formed a roadmap to help guide her decisions about giving back to Seattle:

Issues of interest: Housing and homelessness, equity, youth education, and food insecurity

Budgets:

• Available to volunteer between 10 and 20 hours per month
• Currently able to donate about $100 annually

Naya’s goals:

• Make a donation with impact. Naya sometimes worries that her small donations could be “going into a black hole” or to a poorly-managed fund. “I’d love to give back in a way that creates a tangible difference in the individuals in the Seattle area,” she said.
  
• Giving back meaningfully. “Anyone can give money to a project, but they might never understand the struggle of these other people,” Naya said. “For me personally, I think it’s really important to [volunteer] because sometimes that can be more costly than giving money.”
• Going deeper as a volunteer. Naya says it’s easy to sign up for a one-off volunteer gig online, but she wants to do more — like organizing other volunteers and helping orgs with behind-the-scenes tasks.

Naya’s three key takeaways from her giving audit:

• Giving small is powerful. “It’s not like I have to give $5,000 for it to be helpful,” Naya says she learned after speaking with our experts. Pro-tip from Burke: “I don’t think giving should be the exclusive domain of wealthy or high-earning people. … $5 or $10 a month, that can be really transformative. Those sustainers are the lifeblood of organizations.”
• Volunteering has many faces. And there’s a bunch of opportunities out there, including ones outside traditional nonprofits, like volunteering to help a school sports team. Pro-tip from Frank: “Coaching is one of those things that people don’t think of as volunteering. … Yes, [you talk about the sport], but you’re also talking to them about school and family. You learn so much about the struggles of young people.”
• Joining a board gives you a different experience. When volunteering, “I like to be pretty hands-on,” Naya said.  Pro-tip from Ben: “Board members are the unsung volunteer heroes of our community. … You’d have a lot skin in the game and it’s a great way to help in a meaningful way.” You don’t have to to be wealthy to be part of one, just dedicated, Ben said. 
  

What’s next for Naya?

During our interviews, Naya said joining a nonprofit board is something she’d be interested in, but she wasn’t sure where to start. Now she’s gearing up to join Seattle Works’ board training program in March to see if it’s a good fit.

“I want to be more involved in the process of outreach, programming, and marketing,” she said. “[Joining a board] would allow me to do something more long-term instead of volunteering once or twice a month.”

In the meantime, Naya said she’s doing her research to find ways to get involved with Seattle orgs working with kids on nutrition and environmental issues through working with orgs like FEEST and Got Green’s Food Access Team.

“I want to find an organization I can support through small monthly donations, and I plan to share what I’ve learned with my partner and friends so we can get involved together,” she told us.

Thanks to Naya, Frank, Ben, and Burke for being part of our giving audit experiment. We’ll update more from our auditees as we hear more about their plans. Thanks to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for making our Evergrey Giving Guide possible — and check out the rest of our Giving Guide.

Another push for capital gains. Gov. Jay Inslee has released plans for his two-year, $54.4 billion state budget, and it’s about 20 percent larger than our last one. What does he need all that money for? Supporting Washington’s chronically underfunded public schools, reforming our mental health care system, and helping Puget Sound’s orcas are a few of the items at the top of Inslee’s list. One place some of that new money could come from: a 9-percent capital gains tax on earnings above $25,000 for individuals and $50,000 for households. (The Seattle Times)

Catch those Zs, kids. A lot of teens in the U.S. aren’t getting enough sleep. To help fix that locally, Seattle Public Schools recently shifted school start times for middle and high schoolers from 7:50 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. 😴 And a new study from the UW, which monitored students from Franklin and Roosevelt high schools, says the later start has helped boost kids’ grades and attendance. We’re curious, Seattle parents: How has the later start made a difference in your day? Let us know in our Facebook thread. (NPR)

Ever heard of Hamm Creek? It’s a little offshoot of the Duwamish River that runs just south of South Park. Back in the 1970s, it was dying. But then Vietnam vet John Beal, who was told he had just four months to live, made it his project to clean it up. He cleaned up piles of trash and removed underground pipes that were harmful to salmon. Today, salmon are able to spawn there again — and that’s thanks to John’s important work. Learn more about John’s green legacy here. ➡️ (KUOW)

Make your road trip delicious. Hitting the road for the holidays? Eater Seattle’s suggested road-trip eats are worthy of a pit-stop on your way to or from your family get-together. Head to May Kitchen and Bar on Vashon Island for tableside pad thai, Chelsea Farm Oyster Bar in Olympia for freshly shucked bivalves, or Knead and Feed in Coupeville for a slice of marionberry pie. Happy travels, y’all. (Eater Seattle)

TELL US WHAT TO DO IN 2019!

You’ve been telling us all week about the awesome things we need to add to our bucket list in 2019: paddle boating, munching our way through West Seattle, and more.

One thing reader Lisa Barnes says we can’t miss: seeing the salmon spawn at Carkeek Park in Northwest Seattle.

“Take advantage of how easy it is to observe this fascinating annual event — literally in our backyard!” she wrote to us. “Not many people have easy access to this kind of natural phenomenon. Plus, there is nothing quite like a crisp, chilly, quiet fall day at Carkeek Park.”

Know something or someplace everyone needs to check out next year? » Send us your favorite ideas here, and we’ll share ‘em back over the holidays.

Have a great weekend, folks. — The Evergrey