Pass it On
**The 2016 PCL Progress Report is out. Click here to view online.
**PCL has a limited number of sponsorships available through its Event Sponsorship program for nonprofit organizations looking for help to underwrite event costs. The Levy will award 10 $500 sponsorships for events related to its funding areas per year; five sponsorships are available for events from July through December 2016, with applications accepted on a first-come, first-served basis in early June.
Details can be found on PCL website here or contact marygay.broderick@portlandoregon.gov with questions.
**Meyer Memorial Trust has refocused its funding into four priority areas: education, affordable housing, the environment and building community. Guiding each portfolio is an overarching strategic framework; a just-launched survey will help gather input from stakeholders across the state to inform its new Equitable Education portfolio. Click here to access the survey, which closes May 25th. Meyer hopes to announce plans in late 2016.
**Saturday Academy will host a five-week summer camp at University of Portland for incoming 4th - 9th grades students. Students will receive tutoring in the morning and enrichment classes in the afternoon. Space is limited to 45 students. For more information, contact Heidi Venneri at 503-200-5859 or Heidi@saturdayacademy.org
**The Portland Children's Levy has a whole new look to its website! Click here to visit and let us know what you think by emailing marygay.broderick@portlandoregon.gov
**Follow PCL on Twitter here
**Playworks can help providers working with children integrate safe, healthy and inclusive student play into existing school activities through a series of thorough and interactive workshops that highlight constructive tools and methods. The trainings are designed for before-, after- and out-of-school program staff. Go here for more info.
**The YWCA offers high-quality and engaging social change trainings. All of the info can be found here.
** Meals 4 Kids, a PCL-funded program through Meals on Wheels People that delivers meals to children and their caregivers throughout Portland, is looking for volunteer drivers. Interested? Contact lynette.vicens@mealsonwheelspeople.org
Hunger Relief Programs Making a Difference:
Janus
SUN Schools
Birch Community Services
**Janus Youth Programs' PCL hunger relief grant is going toward both reducing hunger and boosting employment in the New Columbia neighborhood, which is the state's largest affordable housing community and one of the most densely populated one, with almost 3,000 residents.
Through its Village Market, which is the only retail outlet within a 15-block radius of New Columbia -- where 33 percent of residents lack transportation and face an hour-bus ride to buy food -- residents are now within .3 miles of the market, which is stocked with fresh produce, dairy, eggs, meat, snacks, coffee, and other bulk and household items. The market serves about 11,000 customers/month.
To boost residents' intake of healthy and affordable food options, Janus has launched several initiatives:
* Signing up nearly 200 market members (through their SNAP eligibility) to receive a 30-percent discount on fresh/frozen fruit and veggies and other whole foods.
* Distributing $5 Veggie Bucks to be used directly toward food and veggie purchases, via snail mail, to local residents and community partners.
* Providing free fresh fruit all day for kids to create healthy eating habits and since January, distributing nearly 5,000 pieces of fruit to neighborhood youth.
* Employing 14 local residents (paid through market revenues).
**Click here to view a video on hunger relief efforts in Multnomah County through SUN programs.
**Also, Birch Community Services' is a local organization building healthy families through financial stability and a debt-free ethic by employing a two-pronged strategy:
Re-distributing millions of pounds of wholesome food, clothing and household goods deemed surplus by product donors; and
Providing workshops and courses designed to equip families with new knowledge and skills for achieving fiscal stability.
BCS gives families the means to reach their goals of decreasing or eliminating consumer debt, catching up with mortgage or car payments, meeting medical bills, or helping pay for vocational training to earn a livable wage. Click here to learn more about BCS and click here to learn more about its May 20th annual fundraiser.
Showcase: Boys and Girls Clubs of Portland Metropolitan Area
Students at the Boys and Girls Clubs after-school program at Margaret Scott Elementary in the Reynolds School District are hard at work on a community outreach and leadership project that will also benefit local homeless shelters.
The school community brought in thousands of plastic grocery sacks, which the students are turning into "plarn" (plastic yarn) by cutting, rolling and eventually crocheting them together to make sleeping mats/bags for donation to a local homeless shelter.
It takes about 600 bags to make one mat. The students will be working on the project every week through the end of May.