A successful fundraiser late last year will allow the Whidbey Veterans Resource Center to expand and offer more programs.

As the result of a showing of the documentary entitled “Soldiers’ Sanctuary” in November and a generous matching offer from South Whidbey businessman Lucas Jushinski, the center raised more than $21,000 by the end of the year.

Jushinski, a veteran himself and owner of Island Alternative Medicine in Freeland, offered to match up to $10,000 in donations.

“We are gaining momentum,” said Greg Stone, president of the center’s board of directors.

The influx in cash marks a change in the center’s direction, and organizers plan to use the money to introduce more manpower and additional service capabilities.

“We are going to enable ourselves to really provide the services we want to,” said Stone. “We want to help ourselves be more professional.”

The center will use this “seed money” to train existing volunteers and board members to run like a “real nonprofit,” Stone said, and leverage that manpower into additional grants and funding sources.