PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers today announced the awarding of $45,000 in grants to nine family, youth and environment-focused nonprofit organizations in the greater-Portland area through the Portland Timbers Community Fund (PTCF). The recipients were selected by the Portland Timbers Community Fund Advisory Board and are the second, and final, of the year as The Portland Timbers Community Fund awarded $55,000 in summer grants to 10 organizations earlier this year. The PTCF Advisory Board consists of partners adidas, Alaska Airlines, PGE and Providence Health & Services.
The Portland Timbers Community Fund presented grants to Adelante Mujeres, Beaverton Education Foundation, Children’s Book Bank, Friends of the Children, Know Your City, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Saturday Academy, Shadow Project and YWCA of Greater Portland.
Since the club’s inaugural MLS season in 2011, the Timbers have given more than $2.4 million in cash and in-kind donations, including their philanthropic work through the PTCF, the club’s field-grants program, and various experiential and charitable activities.
The funding Adelante Mujeres receives will support the Chicas Soccer Academy and Healthy Lifestyles Camp, an eight-week summer camp for 120 Latina girls in grades 3-12 where they will learn ways to improve their fitness, self-esteem, overall health, team-building and leadership skills. For more information, visit www.adelantemujeres.org/.
Beaverton Education Foundation, which provides hands-on, innovative academic enrichment and advancement programs and projects, will apply its grant to support its “Safe and Sound 4 Student Success” after-school program that provides after-school academic support and athletics for 900 of its most at-risk middle school students. Visit www.beavertonedfoundation.org/ to learn more.
The grant awarded to the Children’s Book Bank will go to support its “Story Like Mine” program, which provides age-appropriate and culturally relevant books to children from low-income and/or ELL families. Funds will help distribute four to six books each to at least 1,000 preschoolers and their families. For more information, visit www.childrensbookbank.org.
Friends of the Children, which provides vulnerable children a nurturing and sustained relationship with a professional mentor who teaches positive values and has attainable expectations for each child to become a healthy, productive member of the community, will apply its grant to help fund support for mentors to spend time with their youth to explore new activities and practice healthy behaviors. Visit www.friendspdx.org/ to learn more.
The funding that Know Your City receiveswill help support the Jade Journal, a multilingual newspaper produced by fifth grade students at Harrison Park School, which celebrates cultural diversity in its neighborhood and addresses the inequities faced by the students. For more information, visit www.knowyourcity.org
The funding given to the Oregon Children’s Theatre will provide a free ticket to an OCT play to 2,500 students in the Title 1 school area as well as a copy of the book from which the play has been adapted to combine learning and literacy. Learn more at http://www.octc.org/.
The grant awarded to Saturday Academy will provide tuition assistance to 60 low-income students so they can attend specialized learning opportunities in STEM through camps and classes. For more information, visit www.saturdayacademy.org/
The funding that the Shadow Project receives will help provide materials for Super Sensory Literary Spaces in Special Education classrooms at two low-income Portland Schools with 200 multicultural books, a comprehensive audio library and more. For more information, visit www.shadow-project.org.
YWCA of Greater Portland, which provides life-changing services for women, children and families to help them attain safety, opportunities and independence, will apply its grant to offer scholarships to low-income, at-risk youth to attend Camp Westwind. The program fosters youth’s curiosity for life and educates them about the diverse world surrounding them. Learn more at www.ywcapdx.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. Grant-seeking organizations must fall under one of the following areas of focus: youth education; youth activity; environmental awareness and activism with youth and families.
Through the club’s community outreach platform, Stand Together, the team is committed to 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.
