Greeting Cards at PCC Deliver Big Win for Orca Research
“Torchbearers” card by Tasli Shaw
The art of the greeting card is making a big difference for endangered orca whales.
Cards by Lodie is a line of Pacific Northwest and whale-themed greeting cards sold at PCC to support the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island. The cards have been at PCC since 2019 and raised a record-breaking $100,658 for the nonprofit in 2025. That’s a 42% increase over the previous year.
Island resident Lodie Gilbert, a longtime CWR volunteer, creates the cards with select photographs and artwork contributed by local artists.
A number of factors contributed to the 2025 success. For one, PCC devoted more shelf space to the cards, including boxed holiday sets, and featured them in The Talk of the Co-op highlighting favorite items. Lodie said the collection also grew with colorful designs from extraordinary local artists, currently spotlighting Aimee Dieterle, Tasli Shaw, Linda Sholberg, Lani Juett, Jaime Ellsworth and Kim Bruder. Each new card is trialed at several stores to see which resonate with customers and the card spinners are updated accordingly.
The cards also hit at a particular moment in time.
“Art is currently trending—bright, happy, colorful art! I believe art speaks to people and can often spark feelings of joy, even during the darkest of times…and many of us need more of that right now,” she said.
The cards raise significant contributions to support the center’s mission to understand and protect the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales, according to Darren Croft, executive director of the research center. The nonprofit’s work began in 1976; it oversees the longest-ever scientific study of orcas.
“One of the biggest challenges in long-term wildlife research is securing steady funding — even a single missed year of research can make it harder to detect important changes in the population. CWR is entering its 50th year of research, public support helps us to continue uninterrupted monitoring of the health, behavior, and population trends of the Southern Resident killer whales,” he said in a statement.
Funds raised support a long list of key needs: fieldwork to monitor individual whales, data analysis that informs recovery efforts, outreach that shares science with policymakers and the public, vessel operations, research equipment, trained staff and interns, restoration of critical salmon habitat, strengthening prey availability for Southern Resident killer whales.
The impact also goes beyond funding, according to both director and founder. “This unique card program connects our science to a community of PCC shoppers who are directly helping to protect a very special population of whales. PCC consumers are also helping us by spreading awareness of the whales with every CBL card they send off to someone special, near or far.”
For more information on the Center for Whale Research see here.
