As Recreation Northwest gets more involved in the stewardship of our open spaces, we are connecting with professionals and outlining our future. Our Vice President, Kurt Baumgarten, and I took the opportunity to sit down with Don Hunger to share what our plans are- to ensure we’re headed in a reasonable direction and receive any wisdom to help us down the right path.*
Don Hunger is the Vice President for Government Affairs with the Student Conservation Association. Don lives in Bellingham and travels a lot for work, yet he claims that while he may be a national staffer, his heart is here. After an engaging discussion and confirmation that we’re on the right track, Don shared these nice words with us. We’d like to share his perspective of Recreation Northwest with you:
“I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion about the vision and future for Recreation Northwest. You have a solid foundation and good business model for the future. Your combination of recreation and stewardship has the potential to mobilize and engage the next generation.
I like grounding your work in Bellingham and growing in concentric circles to the county and the state. Take your best practices, whether in race planning, community building, event coordination or cooperative agreements and become a leader. Do something that differentiates Recreation Northwest from other organizations.
It’s a great time to combine the elements of being outdoors and caring for the places we love. – Best Regards, Don Hunger.”
We’d like to thank Mr. Hunger for his time, input and kind words. Input like his is invaluable in helping us create a solid foundation for our business and the programs we create in and for our communities.
– Todd Elsworth, Executive Director
As Executive Director of Recreation Northwest, Todd Elsworth promotes outdoor recreation and brings community together to enjoy, preserve and improve the places where we play. His decades of extensive event production, marketing and writing experience propel this passion. You might bump into him and his daughter Violet while they’re biking, hiking, paddling or skiing in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
