Portland Parks Foundation
| February 2005
Giving from the Heart
BUILDING A HEALTHY FOUNDATION
Any medical professional can tell you that parks and the activities they inspire go a long way towards creating healthy communities. Knowing that, it's clear to see that a partnership between the Portland Parks Foundation and Providence Health Plans is a perfect match.

The relationship with Providence Health Plans began in 2003 when they came forward with a donation of $2,500 for Project Inclusion, the Foundation's program designed to increase the participation of youth from low-income families in Portland Parks & Recreation programs. Last year, Providence boosted its contribution to a stunning $25,000.

Shooting Hoops at Youth Basketball Clinic with Blazer Zach Randolph


Jack Friedman, chief executive officer of Providence Health Plans, admits he's an old hoops rat. "I spend a fair amount of time down at Wallace Park," he says. "And I played some basketball over the years in Northwest Portland." Of course, Friedman played back in the old-school days of cement courts -- long before Nike had come forward with a bunch of old shoes and a new idea for converting them into a rubberized compound surface for the basketball courts in Portland's parks.

Friedman was introduced to the Foundation's work by Bruce Berning, a Foundation board member and senior partner with the law firm Tonkon Torp. Given Friedman's Wallace Park background, and the fact that his daughter Nicole and son Joey have honed their sports skills on the playing fields and courts of Portland's parks, he quickly saw both the value and the need.

As a result, last year's donation from Providence was unrestricted, meaning the Foundation Board can decide where the gift can have the most impact. "A lot of kids have come to rely on the parks for after school programs or things to do in the summer," Friedman explains. "Making sure the facilities are kept up and that kids can use them -- that's why we do this."
 
A FIESTA OF CULTURAL EXPERIENCES
Cinco de Mayo comes just once a year, but the Portland-Guadalajara Sister City Association (PGSCA) is committed to serving the community for the other 364 days as well. That's why, aside from hosting the annual celebration at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, PGSCA has come forward with two $20,000 contributions to the Foundation specifically targeted for Project Inclusion.
Playing in an after school theater program funded through Project Inclusion.


The Portland Parks Foundation created Project Inclusion to remove financial barriers that prohibit low-income families from participating in parks programs and to expand the range of culturally significant programming for Portland's increasingly diverse ethnic and racial communities.

Those ideals led to Latina Girls Camp, a two-week program for 14 girls whose families immigrated from Peru, Cuba and Mexico. Funds from Project Inclusion also played a role in the creation of Multicultural Nature Camp, held last summer with 21 students from North Portland's Clarendon Elementary School.

As Shelli Romero, PGSCA's board president, explains, "Our organization is about supporting families and culture and community. Children wouldn't have the access to these programs -- and the benefits that come from them -- without philanthropic donations."
 


To learn more about the Portland Parks Foundation, visit our web site at www.portlandparksfoundation.org, or call us at 503.802.5757.
 
IT ALL ADDS UP
The connection between Portlanders and their parks is a spiritual one. And as awareness of the Portland Parks Foundation mission has increased, that spirit has moved many of us to act with uncommon generosity.

  • Membership in the Foundation's 2004 Legacy Circle more than doubled from the year before, with 90 donors giving more than $1,000 each.
  • The Foundation's 2004 direct mail campaign attracted over 400 new donors who contributed $14,400.
  • More than 150 direct mail donors from 2003 chose to renew their support, raising $11,700. And we're gratified to say that about half of them significantly increased their gifts.

Thanks to all of you from the Foundation board and staff -- and thousands of Portland's children.
 

 

 

 
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