John White tries to leave everything a little better than he found it. That’s how he finished out the 2008 Skagit Valley Herald Christmas Fund, and it’s how he left the organization as a whole.

The five-year fund administrator helped the fund overcome a crippled economy and a snow-ridden Skagit Valley this year, closing out 2008 with donations totaling $68,786.51, up 4 percent from the previous year. The fund’s official fiscal year runs through March and continues to accept donations. But White and others were thrilled to see the figures top 2007 before the New Year.

White, 65, of Mount Vernon, also leaves the fund as its administrator this year, after establishing new partnerships and finding new locations for the nonprofit organization’s storage and office work.

During his time with the fund, White helped establish a partnership with Toys for Tots, secured storage and office space at the Skagit County Fairgrounds and saw the fund grow from serving 1,500 recipients to 1,681.

“It’s just getting stronger and stronger,” White said.

White credited this year’s success with a large number of individual donations between $25 and $50. He said Skagit County residents opted to take care of their community at a time when people had fewer resources.

“I just think it’s people in the local communities rallying behind local projects when times get tougher,” White said. “I think people look toward their own community and take care of the needs there first.”

White first applied for the administrator position in 2003, just after retiring from managing the JC Penney in Burlington.

“I retired in August, and I realized there was some more I could do,” he said.

At that time, he committed to five years with the Christmas Fund and decided to stick with that plan.

“I’d have him do it again in a heartbeat,” Stedem Wood, publisher of Skagit Publishing, said Monday. “He’s a first-rate administrator. In so many of his roles, he’s an asset to his community.”

As administrator, White oversaw every step of the fund from collection to distribution. He said it was a full-time job from the beginning of November to Dec. 31.

“On Nov. 1, we go to the fairgrounds with nothing,” White said.

From there, he oversees the collection of toys, foods, gifts and monetary donations, organizes the phone banks and sorts the donations.

Jody Louia, who worked as assistant administrator for four of White’s five years, described him as a goal-oriented person who handled the immediate problems while coming up with long-term solutions.

Louia said White was instrumental in establishing the fund’s location at the fairgrounds. She said the fund moved locations several times, but needed a permanent home for storage.

White also developed a partnership with Toys for Tots. Before the partnership, the fund collected and distributed toys entirely on its own. Now the fund lets Toys for Tots handle the collection.

Louia said White was the first male fund administrator she could remember and worried briefly that he wouldn’t be as “warm and fuzzy” as previous administrators. But she found him very customer-service oriented and friendly.

“Especially working with the volunteers,” Louia said. “He’s just a good, hard-working guy.”

White said the next administrator will need to know the operations of the fund well so he or she can step back and see the future needs.

White will stay busy in the community. He will continue to serve on the board of the Skagit Valley College Foundation and as the chair on the Skagit Community Foundation.

But even as he leaves the Christmas Fund, he knows he’ll be around next year to help out as much as he can.

“I think it’s just a beautiful way to help some families that need a little help during the holiday season,” White said.

• Aaron Burkhalter can be reached at 360-416-2141 or .