Portland, OR – The Oregon Community Foundation announced more than $16,227,000 in grant awards to nonprofits throughout the state.
OCF continues to place an emphasis on grants to help communities through the recession. This spring, that assistance includes a $35,000 grant to Wallace Medical Concern (Gresham), a $40,000 grant to Clatsop Community Action (Astoria) and a $10,000 grant to Linn-Benton Volunteers (Corvallis).
The grant to Wallace Medical Concern will help the volunteer organization continue to provide neighborhood-based health care to low income and uninsured members of the community. “At a time when the need for basic healthcare is growing, funding for services such as ours has diminished due to the same economic issues that are facing our patients. With this funding from OCF we will be able to continue services that provide over 4,000 visits with patients each year,” says Lisa Cline, Wallace Medical Concern Executive Director.
“Our new 7,500 square foot center will open this summer and will serve as the regional distribution center for food banks on the north Oregon coast. This grant will allow us to purchase critical equipment and supplies for our new center,” says George Sabol, Executive Director of Clatsop Community Action, Inc.
“This grant from OCF allows us to build capacity and services for those who are suffering the worst in Linn and Benton Counties” says Beth Fox, Director of Linn-Benton Volunteers. “We recruit and train volunteers to serve others and this grant will allow us to not only increase our volunteer base but also provides a higher level of legitimacy to our efforts.”
OCF’s volunteer leadership councils awarded more than $730,000 through the Regional Action Initiative to support mentoring, community schools and children’s dental health.
As a community foundation, OCF works with individuals, families and businesses to create charitable funds to support the community causes they care about. Since 1973, OCF has distributed more than $500 million in grants and scholarships to improve the quality of life in Oregon.
A full list of grants provided in spring of 2010 is available here.