PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers today announced the awarding of $52,500 in grants to 12 family, youth and environment-focused nonprofit organizations throughout the greater-Portland area through the Portland Timbers Community Fund (PTCF). The recipients were selected by the Portland Timbers Community Fund Advisory Board.
The Portland Timbers Community Fund presented grants to Bradley Angle, Camp Fire Columbia, Columbia River Keeper, The FIT Project, The Forest Park Conservancy, Impact NW, Momentum Alliance, Open Meadow, PAST&E, Portland Parks Foundation, The Right Brain Initiative and Saturday Academy.
The PTCF has set as an aggressive goal of awarding $120,000 in grants to local nonprofits and field projects in 2014. The spring grants are the first of two grant cycles over the course of the year. Letters of Interest (LOI) for the PTCF’s second grant cycle are due June 9, 2014. For grant applications and guidelines, visit www.timbers.com/community/fund.
The funding that Bradley Angle receives will support its summer “Healthy Kids, Healthy Families” program for kids living in its emergency shelters and will allow the nonprofit to host structured field trips, classes, purchase new outdoor equipment and provide food for its cooking classes. For more information on Bradley Angle and its domestic violence shelters and services, visit www.bradleyangle.org.
Camp Fire Columbia will apply its grant toward providing enrichment and academic after-school assistance to 570 students in East Portland. For more information on Camp Fire Columbia or its programs, visit www.campfirecolumbia.org.
The grant awarded to Columbia River Keeper will go to support the River Communities Monitoring program that helps train volunteers to monitor water quality, coordinate river cleanups and make data publicly available through its website. For more information, visit www.columbiariverkeeper.org.
The FIT Project will apply its grant to cover the cost of weekly community events, providing information and education on health and nutrition, at a local community center for one year. Standing for Families in Training, the FIT Project is a nonprofit organization connecting families with resources in its own community, offering fitness, nutrition and lifestyle education to families in need. For more information, visit www.thefitproject.org.
The funding that The Forest Park Conservancy receives will help fund its Discovery Field Trips which will help cultivate stewardship and understanding of the natural world for children in grades 3-5 from Title 1 schools. At 5,157 acres, Forest Park is the largest urban forest in the United States. For more information on projects and ways to volunteer, visit www.forestparkconservancy.org.
The funding given to Impact NW will be used for “On Track,” an afterschool running club for youth at Barnes Elementary in Beaverton, Ore. The program provides 60 students with physical activity and positive adult role models. Impact NW has been a leader in providing individuals of all ages with skills and resources to achieve success and to advocate for their communities; click here to learn more.
The grant awarded to Momentum Alliance will support the organization’s “I am From” environmental education and leadership program as well as helping fund three field trips per month to introduce youth to outdoor activities. Additional information about the work of Momentum Alliance, based in North Portland, is available at www.studentallianceproject.org.
Open Meadow received funding to its “Step Up to College” program that includes college and career visits, financial aid and scholarships as part of the next step in its program to help youth on a positive, educational path through high school and into college. Based in North Portland, Open Meadow developed the “Step Up” program in 2003. For more information, visit www.openmeadow.org.
The grant awarded to PAST&E, standing for Portland After-School Tennis & Education, will go toward partially funding its summer programming at St. Johns Racquet Center in North Portland. The summer program is free of charge, six hours per day, five days per week for 250 low-income youth. For more information, visit www.pastande.org.
The Portland Parks Foundation will apply its funds to restoring sports fields as part of “Parke Diem,” a citywide, park-centered volunteer campaign. Nearly half of Portland’s playgrounds need replacing in the next decade, and many of its sports fields are also in poor condition. Learn more about “Parke Diem” and the Portland Parks Foundation’s efforts to give every child a place to play at www.parklandia.org.
The Right Brain Initiative will apply its grant to help underwrite the costs of artists and teacher planning, professional development for teachers, model artists’ residency and the documentation of student learning. Launched in 2008, the Right Brain Initiative helps promote whole-brain learning with a vision of giving every K-8 student in the area access to the arts regardless of neighborhood, language or income. For more information, visit www.therightbraininitiative.org.
The grant awarded to Saturday Academy will go toward providing tuition assistance scholarships to approximately 30 low-income students. Based in North Portland, Saturday Academy engages the youth with hands-on, in-depth learning and problem solving by connecting them with community experts to serve as instructors and mentors. For more information, visit www.saturdayacademy.org.
The PTCF, an advised fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, supports charitable, nonprofit organizations that are registered as a 501(c)(3), with a tax-exempt status from the IRS and are located within one of the four surrounding counties of the Portland metro area: Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, and Clark County in Southwest Washington. The PTCF Advisory Board consists of partners adidas, Alaska Airlines, Providence Health & Services, Burgerville and PGE. Grant-seeking organizations must fall under one of the following areas of focus: youth education; youth sports; youth health and fitness; environmental awareness and activism with youth and families.
For 2014, the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC have joined with nine community partners through the club’s community outreach platform, Stand Together. Local nonprofits AC Portland, Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest, Friends of Trees, Girls Inc. of NW Oregon, Northwest Outward Bound School, Playworks, Portland YouthBuilders, Schoolhouse Supplies and Special Olympics Oregon, are committed to working with the club and furthering its community mission to harness the power of sport to improve the lives of children and families in the region through targeted programs, deep partnerships and philanthropic giving. For more on the Timbers community outreach programs and partners, visit www.timbers.com/stand-together.
