Boeing helps retired Seahawk fund safe, inclusive programs
Boeing donates $1.2 million this year to Renton nonprofits, including Doug Baldwin Jr.’s Family First Community Center.
Family First Community Center in Renton Boeing Photo
The sounds of a basketball game pour from the gymnasium with the still-shiny hardwood floor. In the next room, young dancers gather in front of the mirrored walls. Down the hall, teens create artwork, and a parent and child visit the health clinic.
It’s another busy day at the Family First Community Center, founded by former Seattle Seahawk wide receiver Doug Baldwin Jr. Located near Boeing’s 737 manufacturing site in Renton, Washington, the center serves the communities of Benson Hill and Cascade.
Doug Baldwin talks with community leaders about his dream of starting a community center in Renton; a dream that is now a reality. Boeing photo
Its purpose and support
The Family First Community Center is the first all-ages recreational center in Washington state that includes a health clinic with medical, dental and behavioral health services under one roof. The center hopes to foster personal growth, promote wellness, and cultivate meaningful individual and community connections from toddlers to seniors.
Recognizing the center’s importance to the community, Boeing recently made a $500,000 donation to support its programs and services. It is part of more than $1.2 million in support Boeing has made in 2023 to numerous Renton nonprofit organizations.
“Renton is a treasured community to Boeing and a place where so many of our teammates live and work,” said Gina Breukelman, senior manager of Boeing Global Engagement for the Northwest region. “The Family First Community Center provides so many resources to help people of all ages thrive, and it’s important to us to help keep those resources accessible to all.”
Boeing recently made a $500,000 donation to support the Family First Community Center programs and services. Boeing photo
The need and dream
Baldwin moved to Renton when he joined the Seahawks in 2011. He recalled the youth who gathered after school at a local teriyaki restaurant. The owner told him the students had nowhere to go. What was needed, Baldwin thought, was a community center like the kind in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida.
“And here we are, 10 years later,” Baldwin said recently to a group of locally elected officials, community members and Boeing representatives. “The dream of this center is now a reality, but we can’t sustain our efforts without support from organizations like Boeing.”
Baldwin spoke of his longtime interest in Boeing and its products, which began as a child wanting to “cruise the skies in an F/A-18.”
The partnerships
The Family First Community Center opened four months ago and operates in partnership with the Renton School District, which provided the land, and the City of Renton, which built the facility. HealthPoint provides medical, dental and behavioral health services.
Boeing’s contribution is vital in keeping many programs free and available, especially to the underserved, according to Jackie Montgomery, the foundation’s executive director.
“Our hope is one day we can model this in other Washington state communities, taking the recreational aspects of a traditional community center, combining it with educational and health services,” she said.
By: Mick Boroughs
