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Donate Toys and We’ll Deliver!

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Just some of the many bikes donated last year!

The KGW Great Toy Drive, a collection event for more than 30 years, takes place now through December 17th. The campaign collects new, unwrapped toys for less fortunate families in Oregon and SW Washington. All donated toys will be distributed with the help of 120 local nonprofit organizations and hundreds of dedicated volunteers.

The KGW Great Toy Drive has hundreds of drop-off locations throughout the region. Toys can be donated at the main KGW studios located at 1501 SW Jefferson Street in downtown Portland, Regence offices, Wells Fargo locations, local Toyota Dealerships and nearly 300 other participating partner locations. For a complete list of locations, please visit KGW.com/toy.

Portland Pedal Power will work with offices who want to be drop-off locations. We will be delivering and carting as many toys to KGW as we can!

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2016 donated toy delivery in action

“The KGW Great Toy Drive is an event that truly brings out the best in our community. Every year we’re humbled by the outpouring of giving from the public,” said DJ Wilson, president and general manager of the KGW Media Group.  “We’re especially grateful to Regence, Wells Fargo and the local Toyota Dealers, who continue to join with us to help needy families bring joy to their children on Christmas morning.”

Due to the generosity of the public and the commitments from many local area businesses to collect toys on behalf of the KGW Great Toy Drive, more children will enjoy a happier holiday season.

Contact me at [email protected] to discuss donating!


Been a Little Bad? Give Back!

Capture 2If you’re looking for that special someone — to donate your money to — the Willamette Week Give!Guide is a great place to start. They’ve handpicked 143 of Portland’s most impactful nonprofits and put them all in one place, making it easy to browse categories and donate.

Willamette Week makes it a point to include a range of organizations in the categories of Animals, Arts, Community, Education, Environment, Social Action, Health & Wellness, and Youth. They also work to include both large and small organizations.

CaptureGiving through the Give!Guide offers incentives too, you’ll receive free and discounted products from your favorite local brands via the Chinook Book mobile app (I use this and there are A LOT of really good deals available). Portland area residents who give will receive thank you bags as well, while supplies last.

The Schlesinger Family Foundation is also posing a challenge to donors: nonprofits with the most individual donors 35 and under in each category will be awarded $1000. Get an up-to-the-minute count of each organization’s donors 35 and under here. Willamette Week realizes that if young people begin supporting non-profit organizations at a young age, even at smaller levels, they are likely to continue to give as they get older, and the amount of their support is likely to grow with their incomes.

You’ve been working hard all year, time to put some of that money back to work in the community! Donations are accepted through December 31st.


A Match Made in Portland

Transporting Healthy Food to Those in Need by Bike

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European plums and Bartlett pears. Picked by the Portland Fruit Tree Project

For the last three years Portland Pedal Power has partnered with the Portland Fruit Tree Project to support the neighborhood harvesting parties sprouting up around the city. Groups of neighbors on bikes work to harvest urban trees, donating fresh fruit to local food banks. The program is expanding this year from the Richmond neighborhood to start bike harvests in Woodstock and surrounding neighborhoods; there is a current need for neighborhood participation, harvest leaders, and volunteers.

“The bike events help connect the community a little more,” says Amanda Virbitsky, a harvest leader in the Richmond neighborhood. “Instead of driving cars separately to sites, we ride together and get to experience the neighborhood together.”

Bike harvesting parties typically meet at a set location, then ride as a group to several harvesting sites. They transport all the harvest tools by bike too: fruit pickers, crates, and even an ingeniously made trailer that doubles as an orchard ladder.

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Paige, a volunteer at Portland Fruit Tree Project encouraged to connect as well. Harvesters that need a delivery assist can call on Portland Pedal Power.

Fruit is sorted by quality; everything that looks grocery store fresh is donated to the food banks, and the rest is divided up among the volunteers. Portland Pedal Power then loads the donations by cargo bike and transports the fruit to Urban Gleaners, who handles distribution of the fruit to local food pantries and food banks.

Diana Foss at Urban Gleaners says they’re grateful for the fresh fruit, most of which goes to their Food to Schools program that sets up family food pantries in schools. “Typically food bank food donations have been canned or boxed foods, not the healthiest options,” says Foss. “It’s a really important a source of fresh produce, which is usually really expensive for struggling families.”

The Portland Fruit Tree Project truly empowers Portland’s neighborhoods to share in the harvest. Homeowners and those with urban orchards can connect with the Portland Fruit Tree Project to share the bounty of their trees. Neighbors who want to lead harvests are encouraged to connect as well. Harvesters that need a delivery assist can call on Portland Pedal Power.


Help USAgencies Credit Union Reach Their Goal!

website---carsalesmartUSAgencies has been raising money for the month of April and March for SMART, a great program dedicated to getting books to kids. Take a look at how USAgencies is doing so far, and how you can help them reach their goal of $1000 by April 30th!

Since March 1st, we’ve been spreading the word about SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) as a part of our Drive Into Reading Spring Car Sale with Enterprise Car Sales. To date, we’ve raised $100 for SMART – that’s 10% of our goal of $1,000.

What will this $100 do? It will provide about 33 books for SMART students.

Why SMART?

Some of you may be wondering why SMART? Why is the credit union partnering with this organization?

USAgencies is committed to investing in our community, not just in financially specific education programs, like BALANCE that we provide free to our members, or like our Feast&Forum sessions hosted throughout the year – we’ve committed to improving the financial lives of our community at the core, on a basic level, and one of those basics is reading.

According to this infographic from SMART, approximately 50 percent of the nation’s unemployed youth (ages 16 – 21) are functionally illiterate, with virtually no prospects for obtaining jobs. By investing in programming like SMART, who’s mission is to”engage community volunteers to read one-on-one with PreK through 3rd grade children who need reading support” we can impact the early literacy years of Oregon kids, one reader at a time, one story at a time.

Help us reach our goal:
By April 30th, we want to have our Facebook campaign page read “GOAL REACHED! $1,000 for SMART!” And, USAgencies is going to match that effort, $1 for $1 (up to $1,000). We encourage our members to support SMART with us.

Invest in SMART:

  • Visit the campaign on Facebook and give online.
  • Call (888) 452-0915 and give over the phone or visit our branch (95 SW Taylor Street | Portland, OR) in person.
  • Become a SMART volunteer.

Thank you for helping your credit union by #GivingBack – #ReadingMatters!


Giving Back – Food Style

Puppet LabsSometimes, it’s the day to day activities that really matter. We always put a big emphasis on helping out the community during the holidays, but once the time of year comes and goes, community support gets little to no attention.

That’s why we are always happy to hear when local businesses go out of their way to make the community brighter in some way.

Puppet Labs, one of our long time partners, made an incredible donation of yesterday’s lunch leftovers to Portland Homeless Family Solutions and plans on continuing these donations into the future.

Portland Homeless Family Solutions, or PHFS, is a nonprofit whose mission is to provide temporary emergency shelter to homeless families with children. They also provide access to transitional resources to help families achieve self sufficiency, and advocate to help alleviate family homelessness on a large scale.

This time of the year can be the hardest for those who are living without. You can help make it a little less difficult. PHFS is a part of the Give Guide, put together by Willamette Weekly, allowing you to donate anywhere between $10-3000+. However, sometimes your time can be the best gift of all. PHFS invites you to take advantage of their volunteer opportunities that can fit the busiest of schedules.

This Thanksgiving, we are abundantly thankful for all of the amazing people we work with on a daily basis. Thanks to our friends at Puppet Labs for taking care of those in need here in our wonderful city.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 


USAgencies: Helping the Community by Giving 5% Back!

With all the doom and gloom in the news recently, It’s always nice to hear about businesses doing something right in the world. Especially when it hits so close to home. For the past few months, USAgencies Credit Union, one of our partners, has been giving back to the local community through its Platinum Visa Program. 

With just the swipe of a credit card, members at USAgencies Credit Union are giving back to the local community, Launched as a benefit of being a Platinum VISA cardholder in 2008, the credit union has committed 5% of net income from this card to investing in charitable efforts. Since its inception, the program has given back more than $18,500.

With the roll out of their new brand identity in late July, USAgencies has reignited their community giving efforts online. Organizations seeking donations can now visit USACU.org and submit their request.

“Our giving efforts are informed by the philosophy that we want to be a consistent resource for our members in their financial lives,” says Kasey Rockwell, Director of Credit Union Relations. “The Community Giving Team works to ensure that approved requests and credit union giving efforts are a reflection of the membership groups we serve.”

Details about this program can be found at USACU.org/giving.

Good on you, USAgencies, for doing something right for the community. We are proud to be partnered with such a proactive Credit Union such as yourselves!


Pamper for a Purpose 2013

Pamper for a PurposeThis is a guest blog written by Denise Wetherell of Lake Oswego’s Shear Creations Salon. After learning about the horrors of genocide in North Africa, Denise and her daughter, Anna, started a grassroots effort called Pamper for a Purpose, which is in its third year.

Once a year for the last two years, Shear Creations has played a big part in helping women and girls affected by genocide in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Living in refugee camps, these women and girls face the threat of an attack when they go out in search of wood to use to build fires for cooking. So far, we have raised $6,300 to help solve this problem! This money goes toward the purchase of solar cookers, which provide an easy, sustainable way to cook, giving women a chance to provide for their families while staying safely in their villages. We also provide hygiene packs and vocational education as we strive to bring positive change to an unimaginably hostile land.

This year, Pamper for a Purpose will be held at Portland’s Director Park on Sunday, July 28th from 2-7pm, so mark your calendar! Enjoy live music, kids activities, a silent auction and pampering services such as acupuncture, haircuts, massage and more with all proceeds going toward the cause. You’ll also have the opportunity to learn more about what we do and how your donations will impact the women and girls of Darfur and the Congo. If you’re interested in helping, we are still accepting volunteers, practitioners and sponsors, as well as donors for the silent auction. Click here to sign up to be a part of the event. We hope to see you there! Thank you so much for your time!

“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together” ~ African Proverb