PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers today announced the awarding of $75,500 in grants to eight youth-focused, nonprofit organizations working throughout the greater-Portland area through the Portland Timbers Community Fund (PTCF). The recipients were selected by the Portland Timbers Community Fund Advisory Board.
Supported by founding partners JELD-WEN Windows & Doors, Alaska Airlines, adidas, PGE and Burgerville, the PTCF presented grants to AC Portland, All Hands Raised, Centro Cultural of Washington County, Girls Inc., “I Have a Dream” Foundation – Oregon, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, Playworks, and Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center.
The $35,000 grant given to Playworks is the largest individual grant ever awarded from the PTCF, and will be used to launch the Playworks program at Portland’s Jason Lee School, providing resources for health education and sports options for the school’s approximately 500 students for the 2013-14 school year. The grant will also help support 14 other Playworks schools across Portland, impacting more than 6,000 students, for the upcoming school year.
"This investment by the Portland Timbers speaks to the commitment that they have to Playworks and the well-being of the children in our community,” said Tara Doherty, program director for Playworks. “As we celebrate our fifth year here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re proud to have made a positive impact on the lives of more than 10,000 kids thus far. The generous support of the Timbers allows us to fulfill our mission of bringing healthy, safe and inclusive play to kids every day.”
As part of the new Playworks program at Jason Lee School, the Timbers will help facilitate and engage in recess and after-school activities. Additionally, the Timbers have annually helped collect, organize and distribute school supplies to students at Jason Lee School through a partnership with Schoolhouse Supplies started in 2005.
The PTCF set an aggressive goal of awarding $180,000 in grants to local nonprofits and field projects in 2013. This is the second of two grant cycles for the PTCF in 2013. For grant information and guidelines, visit www.portlandtimbers.com/stand-together/community-fund.
The funding that AC Portland receives will go towards adding programming at Hacienda Community Development Corporation (CDC) and Rosa Parks Elementary. Founded in 2011, AC Portland supplies tools to empower students to lead healthy lives, success academically and to inspire positive community engagement; click here for more on AC Portland.
All Hands Raised will apply its grant toward support of the All Hands Raised Partnership, a community-wide initiative focused on improving educational outcomes and ensuring a community of support for all Portland and Multnomah County youth, before, during and after school, from cradle to career. For more on All Hands Raised and its programs, visit www.allhandsraised.org.
The grant awarded to Centro Cultural of Washington County will go to its program, YES! The two-part program includes afterschool leadership development and weekend sports experiences for middle school teens in Forest Grove, Ore. Additional information Centro Cultural can be found at www.centrocultural.org.
Girls Inc. will apply its grant to its afterschool program, Mind+Body Toolkit, an eight-week support program for girls addressing mental and physical wellbeing, and to help support 2014 spring programs. Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through life-changing programs and experiences; click here for more.
The funding given to “I have a Dream” Foundation – Oregon will be used to support tutors, books and learning materials in effort to expand its Academic Intervention program in the areas of math and reading to serve more low-income students at Portland’s Alder Elementary School in their birth-through-college/career model. Visit www.dreamoregon.org for more on “I Have a Dream” Foundation.
The grant awarded to Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership will support 250 students from surrounding counties to participate in the Outdoor Environmental Education Program to build environmental curiosity and knowledge, empower citizens to make a difference in their communities, and foster a personal connection to the lower Columbia River; click here for more information.
Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center received funding to develop a specialized exercise program to help combat childhood obesity for parents and young children at its new Cornelius Wellness Center. To learn more about the resources provided by Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center and its eight locations across Washington and Yamhill counties, click here.
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. 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.
Through the club’s community outreach platform, Stand Together, the Timbers’ community mission 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. For more on the Timbers community outreach programs and partners, visit www.portlandtimbers.com/stand-together.
