PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers today announced the awarding of $45,500 in grants to seven educational, environmental and community-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 nine organizations earlier this year. The PTCF Advisory Board consists of contributing partners adidas, Alaska Airlines, Portland General Electric and Providence Health & Services.
Since the club’s inaugural MLS season in 2011, the Timbers have given more than $3.1 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 Portland Timbers Community Fund presented grants to The Children’s Book Bank, Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest, Harper’s Playground, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, Saturday Academy and Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington.
Each of the seven organizations will be recognized at Providence Park during halftime of the Timbers match against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, Sept. 17.
The Children’s Book Bank, which aims to increase the chances for children to succeed as future readers, learners and citizens by filling their homes and lives with quality books, will apply its grant to purchase 2,000 bilingual copies of “At Home with Books,” and will provide materials to empower and prompt more interactive reading behaviors for preschoolers in Multnomah County. For more information, visit http://www.childrensbookbank.org/.
The funding Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest receives will be used to enhance an environmental, adventure and active lifestyle program, featuring hiking kayaking and camping. For more information, visit http://girlsincpnw.org/.
The grant awarded to Harper’s Playground, which inspires vital communities by building innovative playgrounds for people of all abilities, will go directly to the capital construction of the new, inclusive play area at Couch Park. For more information, visit http://harpersplayground.org/.
Oregon Children’s Theatre, an organization that creates exceptional theater experiences that transform lives, will apply its grant to provide 4,500 students from Title I schools with a ticket to the show “Tomas and the Library Lady,” in a bilingual format, and a book from which the play was adapted. Learn more at http://www.octc.org/.
The Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center will utilize its grant to expand its “Let’s Be Fit Program” to three schools, empowering youth to be healthy by engaging them in life-skills lessons while training to complete a road race. For more information, visit http://virginiagarcia.org/.
With the funding that it receives, the Saturday Academy will use its grant toward providing an EcoChallenge Camp for one week in the summer, challenging 20 children in grades 6-9 to problem solve local environmental issues, while also offering field trips to showcase the students’ conservation in action. Learn more athttp://www.saturdayacademy.org/.
The grant awarded to the Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington, which inspires young people and expands their learning through the arts, will use the funding toward an arts-integrated literacy curriculum for third grade teachers at W.Verne.McKinney Elementary School, benefitting five teachers and 90 students. For more information, visithttp://www.ya-or.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 and wellness; and environmental awareness for youth and their 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.
