Ensuring all individuals and communities in our region can flourish and thrive is central to the mission of the Murdock Trust. We recently talked with local leaders about this topic, and they shared their ideas for how we can work together for the thriving of our communities and our region.
The Pacific Northwest is teeming with nonprofits working toward the betterment of their communities. Nonprofits from all sectors are addressing the varied needs of people in innovative ways, making it their goal to improve quality of life and create a thriving society.
Holocaust Center for Humanity 
Cabinet Peaks Medical Center 
Olive Crest 
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, photo by Robert Hood
Arts & Culture #
The Stevensville Playhouse was its town’s first community theater. Using 100 local actors of all ages, the theater presents original and classical theatrical productions, musical performances and community presentations. A three-story addition on the back of the Art Deco building, constructed with help from a Murdock Trust grant, provides space for set storage, a green room and dressing rooms.
Education #
Through education that emphasizes critical thinking, the Holocaust Center for Humanity teaches students to stand up to bullying, prejudice and intolerance. A Murdock Trust grant is helping provide higher quality outreach and trainings to teachers in public, private and home schools, as well as youth detention programs.
Health #
Serving the small farming town of Libby, Cabinet Peaks Medical Center is a robust hospital that provides a wide array of services across rural Montana. A new CT scanner funded by the Murdock Trust is essential to a town that suffered long-term asbestos exposure between the 1940s and 1990s, providing critical diagnostic imaging to residents.
Human Services #
Olive Crest helps children in foster care through foster placement, foster home support, programs that prevent and treat child abuse and providing counseling, parent education and training and certification of foster families. A new facility in Bellevue, Washington, renovated with help from a Murdock Trust grant, allows Olive Crest to provide these life-changing services.
Scientific Research #
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is on its way to becoming a global leader in antibody-based and immunotherapy research. Antibodies are used in virtually all aspects of biomedical research. Many are critical tools in medical diagnostics, and some are useful in cancer treatment. A Murdock Trust helped Fred Hutch acquire an antibody discovery workstation to help further its research.
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