Charitable group funded $860,000 worth of Tri-City projects. Now it’s gone for good

An organization that has raised $860,000 for Tri-City causes, many of them benefiting children, is folding after membership declined.

The Hanford Chapter of the Bechtel Women’s Group formed in 1994, both raising money for the community and also helping support women coming to the Tri-Cities because of their spouse’s or their own Bechtel jobs at Hanford.

Bechtel employees sometimes change assignments across the globe every few years.

Through the years, the women supported a wide range of programs, including Hospice at the Chaplaincy, the Boys & Girls Club of Benton and Franklin Counties, the Reach museum, Safe Harbor Crisis Response, the Playground of Dreams and Kid’s Haven.

The group’s final donation is a table and bench swing for Richland’s Howard Amon Park near the imbarimba, a musical instrument popular with children at the park.