Timbers, Thorns FC team up with local partners to present ninth-annual Stand Together Week Aug. 23-29

PORTLAND, Ore. – 
With the help of local community partners and the City of Portland, the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC will present their ninth-annual Stand Together Week from Aug. 23-29. The comprehensive, week-long community initiative supports dozens of nonprofit projects and volunteer opportunities across the city, and in the midst of a global pandemic, the organization is emphasizing individual support projects and virtual volunteering in addition to traditional in-person projects.

On Tuesday, Aug. 19, the City of Portland and the state of Oregon will declare Aug. 23-29 as Stand Together Week. The Timbers and Thorns FC will kick off Stand Together Week with a special virtual event on Friday, Aug. 21, at 3:30 p.m. (Pacific), as Dr. Richard Lapchick, a scholar, author, human rights activist and pioneer for racial equality, who is internationally recognized as an expert on sports issues, leads a discussion and Q&A on how the power of sport can impact positive social change. To register for the event, click here. Viewing information will be provided the day before the event. To learn more about Dr. Lapchick, click here.

The organization has created different categories of projects, based on each person’s individual comfort level to help support these local nonprofits, which will limit in-person contact and encourage participants to donate or drop off items or commit time to organizations remotely. The individual support and virtual volunteering opportunities include donating blood, certifying your backyard with the Audubon Society, replenishing neighborhood Little Libraries, recycling paint and engine oil, providing new books for the Children’s Book Bank’s ‘A Story like Mine’ program, creating, donating and making blankets, assisting with translation for the United Nations, becoming a mentor and much more.

With the help of presenting partners Alaska Airlines, Coke, Daimler, Danner Boots, KPTV and Providence Sports Medicine, the organization has numerous in-person volunteer projects benefiting organizations focused on youth, the environment and social equity offered across the Portland metro area. These projects include creating school gardens, restoring local parks, harvesting fruit, sprucing up local Boys & Girls centers, and more. All in-person volunteer projects are adhering to state and local guidelines to curb the spread of COVID-19. Health and safety measures such as face coverings, hand washing, sanitizing and social distancing will be enforced.

To sign up as a volunteer for one of the Stand Together Week in-person projects and for more information on the overall initiative, please click here. A complete schedule of in-person activities and events is listed below.

Since 2012, Stand Together Week has mobilized 6,375 volunteers to provide the Portland metro area with 20,842 hours of service at more than 258 events benefiting youth and the environment. Nonprofits served include Active Children Portland, The Children's Book Bank, Growing Gardens, Harper's Playground, and the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, among many others.