PORTLAND, Ore. – With the help of local community partners and the City of Portland, the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Stand Together Week from Sept. 5-11. The comprehensive, week-long community initiative supports dozens of nonprofit projects and volunteer opportunities across the city, once again providing in-person and collaborative efforts.
Each year, the State of Oregon and City of Portland officially proclaim the week as the Portland Timbers & Thorns FC Stand Together Week. Fans are invited to volunteer and team up with mascot Timber Joey, Timbers and Thorns FC players and club staff on the various projects. 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.
With the help of partners Alaska Airlines, Coca-Cola, Daimler, Danner Boots, Safeway, Providence Sports Medicine, and Umpqua Bank, 20 volunteer projects benefiting organizations focused on youth, the environment, and social equity are offered across the Portland metro area.
Since 2012, Stand Together Week has mobilized 6,575 volunteers to provide the Portland metro area with 21,336 hours of service at more than 276 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 Foundation, among many others.
Stand Together, the Timbers and Thorns' community outreach platform, represents the relationship between the teams and their fans, and signifies the strong commitment the club has to supporting and standing by the community both on and off the field. The mission of Stand Together is 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.
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 visit here. A complete schedule of in-person activities and events is listed below.
Sunday
Harper's Playground - 9am - 12pm
Help support Harper's Playground as we spruce things up by helping out with sweeping, weeding, planting and general up-keep of the city's first inclusive playground.
Brown Hope - 10am-1pm
Volunteers will help facilitate a drive-up donation station. Donors will be dropping off items such as diapers, baby wipes, laundry detergent, hygiene items, undergarments, and cleaning supplies.
Brown Hope - 1pm-4pm
Volunteers will help facilitate a drive-up donation station. Donors will be dropping off items such as diapers, baby wipes, laundry detergent, hygiene items, undergarments, and cleaning supplies.
Monday
Grow Portland - 1pm-3pm
Grow Portland will lead volunteers in beautifying Menlo Park’s Learning Garden. All work will take place outdoors, rain or shine. Major projects include installing new raised beds, weeding, pruning, resurfacing chip paths, and general garden clean up.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Oregon and SW Washington - 4pm-7pm
This program helps Ronald McDonald House provide delicious, home-cooked meals to the families staying at RMHC. Stand Together will provide the ingredients and volunteers will prepare dinner for guest families at the East House.
Tuesday
Hoyt Arboretum - 9am-12pm
Volunteers will help care for Hoyt Arboretum’s trees and trails with a variety of hands-on stewardship projects. Projects vary for each crew depending on the needs of the season, but often include invasive species removal, weeding and mulching, trail maintenance, and more. It’s a unique opportunity for volunteers to learn about and care for rare and unusual trees and plants from around the world.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore - 9am-12pm
The ReStores provide critical funding for affordable housing by selling donated items from the community. By reselling donated items, Habitat keeps usable items out of landfills. With a group of volunteers, the ReStores are able to revitalize and reorganize their stores. Past projects have included painting the store, building decorative walls with reclaimed wood, building new shelving, landscaping, etc.
Impact NW - 1pm-4pm
The volunteers will help with various aspects of creating our hands-on, all-materials-included kits for local Portland public schools. Tasks will include gathering and bundling materials, such as sharpening pencils, organizing papers, and bagging general supplies.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Oregon and SW Washington - 4pm-7pm
This program helps Ronald McDonald House provide delicious, home-cooked meals to the families staying at RMHC. Stand Together will provide the ingredients and volunteers will prepare dinner for guest families at the East House.
Wednesday
Portland Fruit Tree Project - 9am-12pm
Volunteers in small groups will work at 1 or more property to pick fruit and sort it for donation. Some volunteers will need to be comfortable on a ladder, and everyone should be comfortable in an outdoor environment with bugs, sun, dirt, and potentially some icky fruit if there is some rot. Fruit will be donated to a partner organization that fights food insecurity and may include school lunch programs, seniors, or BIPOC families, depending on the tree and the date of the harvest.
Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center & Foundation - 1pm-4pm
Volunteers will help either in our garden or painting our shed at our Cornelius Wellness Center. We have a garden at our Cornelius Wellness Center and would love to help transition everything for autumn. The other project we could potentially use help with is painting our shed with a mural of some kind.
Project Lemonade - 2pm-5pm
Your volunteer work will include sorting through a huge shoe donation from Nike's Adventure Club Subscription Youth Shoe program. Most of the shoes are very gently used. We will sort the best from the worst. Some that need just a little wipe down will get that level of care. We will sort by size and style, and we will tag and inventory them so they are ready to be placed in our store for foster youth to choose!
Thursday
Friends of Zenger Farm - 9:30am-12:30am
Removing unwanted grasses and invasive plants from designated areas of the farm, creating weed barriers by laying down cardboard and covering with mulch.
Children's Book Bank - 10am-11:30am
Volunteers will learn more about our mission, and we will help them bring books back to life as they learn to clean covers, erase scribbles, cover or remove inscriptions, tape torn pages, and color in faded, worn covers. All sessions last 1.5 hours, possibly longer depending on the number of participants, and end in a reflection activity.
Schoolhouse Supplies - 10am-1pm
In preparation for the new school year, volunteers will assist with sorting donated schools supplies for the Teacher Free Store, sorting books donated by Powell's into age categories, and bundling pencils for classroom use.
Transition Projects - 2pm-5pm
As one of the largest Veteran service providers in the state, Transition Projects has the honor of hosting the annual Portland Veterans Stand Down event (this year, on September 10), a resource, employment, and wellness fair for Veterans at risk of homelessness. On September 9, we need volunteers to help us set up for the event at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum!
Friday
Friends of Trees - 9am-12pm
Join the fun at Gateway Green, one of Portland's newest parks known for its off-road cycling opportunities. This park is being developed into a world class recreation and nature/sustainability destination! At this event you can make a difference by removing weedy introduced species such as English ivy and Himalayan blackberry with pruners, loppers, shovels. Your work will protect an area that community members recently planted with native trees and shrubs. If time allows, we'll also clear space at a new planting site.
Chelsea Hicks Foundation - 10am-1pm
Volunteers will process incoming costumes - removing tags, hanging, re-tagging with description, covering, racking, or boxing. Volunteers will be assembling a variety of craft projects per foundation need. Volunteers will be assembling toy packs by age for Costume Care Packages.
Saturday
Our House of Portland - 9am-12pm
Improving the grounds all around Our House including weeding, planting, mulching, and pruning trees/bushes.
SOLVE - 10am-1pm
Volunteers will receive litter cleanup supplies, instruction, and safety information before cleaning up Powell Park and the surrounding neighborhood.
