Staying in Touch With, and for, the Mercer Island Directory

For almost 45 years a dedicated group of volunteers has put together a local phone directory for Mercer Island and raised hundreds of thousand of dollars for Seattle Children’s Hospital in the process.

According to the Mercer Island Guild for Seattle Children’s Hospital, a group of about 30 volunteers, the directory brought in over $144,000 last year thanks to donations and ad sales.

“To me it feels wonderful just to do something like this,” said JoAnne Jones of the Mercer Island Guild. Jones has been working on the directory for the past few years.

According to Jones, putting the directory together has always been a bit of a challenge. People move, change phone lines or add lines all the time. And since the guild isn’t given this information by the phone company they have to track it down all on their own.

“It’s a challenge to keep it accurate,” Jones said.

In recent years the challenge has been even greater as many people have begun to drop their land lines altogether in favor of cell phones, something Jones said is incredibly difficult to track. She still wants those numbers in the directory, though, if the people are interested in being listed.

“We are more than happy to include them,” Jones said.

Despite the hard work and long hours that the volunteers put into tracking down and confirming numbers, the guild enjoys the experience and feels like the community appreciates having the directory.

“We look at the donations and that tells us it is being appreciated,” Jones said.

Jones said that about 20 to 25 percent of the 5,000 to 6,000 recipients of the directory make a donation. The guild has received donations as small as $1 and as large as $150. The average donation is between $25 and $50, said Jones.

Jones is hoping the 2012 directory will exceed last year’s donation total.

“We always like to equal or best what we raised the previous year,” Jones said.

Jones said that the 2012 directory is starting to come together but the guild needs the help of the community. Jones said that anyone interested in being listed can e-mail her at jojones@earthlink.net or call her at 206-232-3903.

Jones and the guild are also very interested in launching a web site where people can submit their numbers but need help putting it together.

“We truly need a volunteer who can step forward,” Jones said.