The Forest Trust for the Children of Cortes Island Society (FTCCIS) had its "best year ever” on Giving Tuesday last week, according to chair Chris Dragseth, with $20,000 fundraised.

FTCCIS was formed to "purchase Island Timberland forest land holdings immediately adjacent to Carrington Bay Park on Cortes Island," and that those lands will be "held in trust for all the children of Cortes Island, in perpetuity," according to its website. The organization adds that the lands will offer "educational, recreational, cultural and spiritual value for all our children."

CKTZ spoke to Dragseth about the $20,000 raised and what they hope to do with the funds.

“We are really quite hopeful that this ends up being a year that we can close some kind of a deal with Mosaic," stated Dragseth.

Dragseth stated that "the whole acquisition of the properties is going to require legal work - surveys, covenant creation...legalise type documents and work, and so we have the need for that to be supported and that's predominately where this year's funds are going to go towards."

On Cortes' Tideline website, https://www.cortesisland.com/cgi-bin/tideline/show_home.cgi Dragseth described the funds as providing "the necessary resources to complete the final groundwork in support of negotiations on purchase."

Dragseth talked about setting the fundraising target at $20,000 after a very generous donor came forward with the offer to match $10,000 of donations. They raised the initial $10,000 through the help of a fundraising email drive organized by Maureen Williams, coordinator of the fundraiser, and FTCCIS managed to meet the $20,000 goal on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 28.

For more information regarding the Forest Trust, visit the website.

To hear more about the Forest Trust for the Children, listen to the CKTZ News Update below: