Community

Being Neighborly | Taking the plunge to benefit nonprofits

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Community stories are made possible in part by Peninsula Light Co, a proud sponsor of Gig Harbor Now.

Tesa Leary Johnson began swimming treacherous waters in 2007 to support local nonprofits. That year, a small group of friends invited her to join them in swimming from Point Richmond Beach to Vashon Island for fun, and to donate to charity.

As neighbors Steve Rees and Peter Bortel sat looking out over Colvos Passage one evening, they decided it would be fun to swim across the channel. The two have diving and swimming experience.

Rees invited Johnson to join them on the 1-mile swim. It required avoiding lion’s mane jellyfish and six-gill sharks, navigating a swift current that can reach 15 to 20 knots, and overcoming the frigid water.

Tesa Leary Johnson has been swimming with a group to raise money for local nonprofits since 2007. She has participated every year, and in the early years the group swam the passage from Point Richmond Beach to Vashon Island.  Photo courtesy of Tesa Leary Johnson

Splashy fundraising

That first year, the small group collected canned goods to donate to the food bank. More swimmer joined over the years, and the swim became a fundraiser supporting Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH Food Bank and New Phoebe House.

New Phoebe House was a Tacoma organization that provided transitional housing for women and children. It closed last year due to federal funding cuts, Bortel said.

Johnson has continued to swim each year with the group of friends. This year, Johnson swam to raise money for Harbor WildWatch, a nonprofit that inspires stewardship of the Salish Sea through education.

“Tesa has been involved from the very beginning,” Rees said. “Tesa goes out and raises a lot of money from friends. She’s always positive, and a great friend. Her husband has been with her every year.”

Her husband, Dave, kayaks alongside her, helping to navigate and guide her to the most direct route and correct her direction for current.

Safer route

During COVID, the group decided to swim along the shore instead of across Colvos Passage. Rees said they decided to do that route this year.

Steve Rees and Tesa Leary Johnson stand on the shore after a swim across Colvos Passage in 2023. Rees invited Johnson to join him and Peter Bortel on the 1-mile swim in 2007, and she has participated in the event each year. Photo courtesy of Tesa Leary Johnson

“We think it’s safer, and it reduces the number of people that we need to have at the swim,” Steve said.

Since she started, Johnson has between $30,000 and $40,000 for nonprofits.

“She’s really put a lot of effort into raising money, and she’s working hard to raise money for Harbor WildWatch this year,” Bortel said.

Johnson and the other swimmers made their journey on July 26. They started on the Gig Harbor side of Colvos Passage, swam north for about 1/2 mile parallel to the shore, then turned and swam back to the starting point.