Who benefits from our Civic Use program?

In 1907 a group of neighbors met at Tom Orr’s house with the idea of building a community gathering place; the hall opened its doors in January 1908. Nearly 120 years later, the way we keep that promise is a program most of our members have never heard of by name.

It’s called the Civic Use Program, and it does something simple. Approved nonprofit or community groups serving South Whidbey pay a steeply-discounted fee for renting the Hall.

As of October 2026, we have 38 non-profit organizations in our Civic Use rental program, up from 30 a year earlier. These activities make up almost 90 percent of all Hall activity, out of close to 200 events booked for the year. In the twelve months before October 2026, 171 bookings were made under the program. That’s board meetings and blood drives, book groups and rehearsals, emergency-preparedness workshops, dancing, library events, and more — roughly one every other day, all year.

Your membership helps us to offer subsidized rental rates for the Civic Use program, keeping the Hall active and accessible for our community. Below is the list of organizations that use the program as of October 2026, and are contributing to the vitality of the Hall.

Libraries, learning and young people

• Sno-Isle Libraries — The regional library district; Clinton Library programs move to the Hall when they outgrow the branch.
• Friends of the Clinton Library — Raises money for Clinton Library programs, and runs the book sales that pay for them.
• Readiness To Learn — Family support and year-round student programs, in partnership with South Whidbey schools.
• Whidbey Island Nourishes — Weekend meal deliveries and in-school snacks for island young people, toddler to teen.
• Girl Scouts Troop 41806 — Our local troop, which donates a share of its cookie proceeds to South Whidbey nonprofits each year.
• United Student Leaders — Youth-led climate action on Whidbey.
• Leadership Whidbey — A seven-month leadership program of Skagit Valley College, held in community spaces around the island.

Civic life

• Clinton Community Council — Works to make Clinton a better place to live and work.
• Clinton Chamber of Commerce — Promotes Clinton’s shops, farms, restaurants and events.
• Indivisible Whidbey — Civic engagement, local election monitoring and a candidate voters’ guide.
• Island County Volunteer Guardian ad Litem Program — Trains volunteers who advocate in court for children removed from home.
• Sduhubs Cultural and Family Services — Builds relationships between members of the Snohomish Tribe of Indians and the South Whidbey community.
• American Legion Post 141 — South Whidbey’s Legion post, which leads Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances.

Health, safety and getting around

• Bloodworks Northwest — Runs mobile blood drives at the Hall; what’s collected here stays in Northwest hospitals.
• South Whidbey Prepares — Helps households and neighborhoods prepare for emergencies.
• Island Transit — Island County’s fare-free transit agency, which brings public meetings and hiring events to Clinton.
• South Whidbey at Home — Volunteer services and social activities that help residents 55 and over stay in their homes.

Food, housing and human services

• Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores — A choice-style food pantry and year-round farm, funded by its Langley and Clinton thrift stores.
• Community Loaves — Trains home bakers who donate whole-grain bread to food banks twice a month.
• South Whidbey Homeless Coalition — Runs the Haven shelter in Coupeville and the House of Hospitality in Langley.
• Island Roots Housing — Working on housing Island County residents can afford.
• Soroptimist of South Whidbey — Scholarships for local women and girls, plus childcare and transportation grants that make finishing school possible.

Environment and the outdoors

• Whidbey Climate Action — Local climate action, from electric vehicles to protecting the island’s water supply.
• Kicking Gas — Makes home electrification affordable, and raises awareness of the health effects of burning fuel indoors.
• Orca Network — The Whale Sighting and Marine Mammal Stranding networks, the Langley Whale Center, and Toki’s Legacy.
• Whidbey Island Garden Tour — All-volunteer since 1996; funds local habitat restoration and education.
• South Whidbey Parks & Aquatics Foundation — Community access and programming for the new pool on Maxwelton Road.

Arts and performance

• LittleBIGFest Music & Arts Festival — Supports regional musicians and artists, and funds scholarships for local students.
• Whidbey Children’s Theatre — More than forty years of youth arts education on South Whidbey.
• Whidbey Island Dance Theatre — Supports island youth dancers, and stages the Nutcracker each December.
• South Whidbey Pride — All-volunteer; produces the South Whidbey Pride Parade and Celebration.

Clubs and regular gatherings

• Whidbey Tango — Regular social tango dances.
• South Whidbey Dances of Universal Peace — Circle dances drawn from the world’s wisdom traditions.
• NESW Contact Improv Dance Lab — Monthly improvisational dance, with instruction beforehand for newcomers.
• ManKind Project — A biweekly men’s group, part of the international ManKind Project.
• Whidbey Quilt Collective — The island group of the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild.
• Whidbey Western Games Association — Horse riders of all ages ride and compete.
• South Whidbey Garden Club — Organized in 1949, for gardening and for the plants, birds and pollinators of South Whidbey.

Thank you to all the folks involved in the above organizations for everything they do to help our community!