A1andAll: The Inspiration

The 22 employees of A1DesignBuild are all instrumental in the collective inspiration behind the new nonprofit A1andAll. General Manager Patrick Martin breaks down some of the reasons why the nonprofit was formed in the first place.

One of the inspirations for starting the nonprofit was to have a vehicle that would allow our organization to generate and distribute resources to the community that we live in. We've been doing this for a while, giving money away and experimenting with how to donate money to make a bigger impact. And the nonprofit structure allows us to do this most effectively, on a project by project basis.

One of the things we've learned is that we’re not very effective on our own. Where we seem to be most effective is when we choose other nonprofits to support that have a larger target and a larger reach. And so the funds that we've raised, we tend to donate those to other nonprofits that have a larger scope and reach than our organization does.

Just a few of the important nonprofits we partner witn

The same goes for the services we donate. The Tiny Desks for Tiny Humans project was an example of this. Working with the Bellingham Public Schools foundation, A1DesignBuild built and delivered 65 desks and chairs to families in need during COVID – all free of charge. We also provided foldable wooden bed frames and built food pantries to serve district families in partnership with the BPS Family Resource Center. 

We were able to mobilize a whole bunch of volunteers and we could do that stuff pretty quickly and pretty cheaply and get it out to people within several weeks. Now, with the nonprofit, we can do that even more effectively.

It all starts with compassion. Having compassion is to behave in such a way that we would like other people to respond to us in our own time of need. So it's a way to model a little humility and concern and a broader understanding of other people's struggles, which helps us understand our own struggles along the way.

So what I want people to do is just give a tiny bit of what they have. Just a tiny bit, like a dollar, like $5, like $50. And if enough people did that, the amount of resources we would have would be just be galactic, right? There's enough people in the world that if we literally gave pennies to the same place, we would have so many pennies to do stuff with. If you start multiplying $1 and $2 and $5 by 5000 people here in our community, the amount of money that we can generate to do stuff with adds up really quickly. All for less than a cup of coffee.

That way, we can help our immediate community. Our neighborhood, our city, our county. And stay hyper-local and be hyper-effective.

I would just like people to show up. I would like people to show up and do good work and extend themselves and be of service. And whether that means giving time or ideas or money, that's all we really want. We want partners that we can do good work with.

We’re always trying to ask ourselves: So what kind of work are we doing that goes beyond ourselves and our clients and each other to help the larger community that we live in?

That’s a good question.

Contact Us if You Want More Info

For inquiries, partnerships, or more information on how to contribute, please contact us at A1andAll@a1designbuild.coop or visit us at our main office. We’re open to one and all.

Together, we can create a legacy of kindness and build a stronger, more resilient Bellingham and Whatcom County. Join us in making a difference—one project, one donation, one volunteer hour at a time. Thank you for being the change that drives our collective journey forward.