We’re very excited to support the work of five organizations this year through our annual grants. I’m very thankful to all who applied. The best part of my job is reading through the proposals and learning about the incredible and inspiring work being done in our communities. The grant committee then has the impossible task of making a final selection from many qualified and deserving applicants. You can learn more about the 2016 grant recipients below. Some of them we met through trustee connections and others found us via word of mouth. Regardless of how, we appreciate the opportunity to build lasting relationships and provide opportunities for growth and development within our communities.
Our focus now shifts to preparation for our annual meeting, which gives us the opportunity to review our governance, investments, and grants, as well as catch up with extended family. The Papé Family Foundation 2016-2017 grant cycle will open in the fall with an invitation to community organizations to submit Letters of Inquiry. Please check back in September to apply for a grant.
2016 Papé Family Foundation Grants
Idaho Shakespeare Festival (Boise) was started in 1977 and currently produces 5 plays every year for over 63,000 patrons. My first experience with Shakespeare was with ISF when I was in grade school. They performed in a small, grassy setting in downtown Boise and I have memories of sitting on the lawn with my friends while watching a comedy (Twelfth Night? Comedy of Errors?).
Idaho Shakespeare Festival currently sends 2 educational outreach tours into schools throughout the state, and operates a School of Theater offering classes and residencies where students of all ages learn to recite Shakespeare, perform musical theater, and more. ISF also operates the Access Program which offers complimentary and discounted tickets to at-risk youth, veterans, educators, seniors, students, and mothers and children in transitional housing, in order to increase the accessibility of ISF’s work. This program also provides ASL interpretation for the Deaf and hard of hearing in the community.
PFF’s grant helps with the purchase of new sound equipment and we are happy to help make this upgrade possible.
Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation (Portland) was founded in 1981 by business leaders and members of the Oregon Fish & Wildlife Commission to accept donations for and make gifts to worthwhile fish, wildlife, and public access projects in Oregon. Since then OWHF has directed almost $17 million dollars in funding to projects, both large and small, throughout the state. Their mission is to empower the lasting conservation of fish and wildlife and citizen enjoyment of natural resources by growing public awareness of and participation in conservation, building private/public partnerships, and distributing charitable gifts of support to worthy projects.
Sturgeon Lake, on Sauvie Island in the Columbia River, is the largest lake on a river island anywhere in the United States. This unique habitat is a key stopover and critical link in the Pacific flyway for thousands of migratory birds and a winter refuge for juvenile salmon. For the hunters, anglers, wildlife viewers, and kayakers, Sturgeon Lake is irreplaceable. Dairy Creek, one of only two connections between Sturgeon Lake and the Columbia, is plugged with debris from the 1996 flood and further hampered by failing culverts upstream. The slow drain of that water out of the lake is allowing the silt suspended in it to settle out to the bottom. Restoring connectivity to the Columbia will reintroduce flushing flows into the lake from Dairy Creek; substantially slowing the accumulation of sediment and ensuring that the birds, fish, and other wildlife that depend on the lake can continue to do so well into the future.
A grant this year from the Papé Family Foundation will help OWHF obtain a matching grant to build a single structure that spans the entire width of the channel; maximizing water movement to flush the lake while minimizing the sedimentation caused by impounded water behind the structure.
City Hope (San Francisco) – began in 2005 out of City Church San Francisco as a way to engage with neighbors. That process led to developing partnerships with non-profits, schools, hospitals, and the SF County Jail. Through work with the County Jail and with a mentorship program for men in recovery, City Hope became increasingly connected to the Tenderloin neighborhood, an area fraught with high drug use and homelessness – and all the associated traumas.
The City Hope Community Development Center opened its doors in September, with the mission of fostering a community of healing in the Tenderloin through highly relational programs geared toward personal, social and spiritual health. In an effort to build community and provide healthy food in San Francisco’s most pronounced food desert, City Hope serves meals at most of its community events. As program participation has increased, the need has arisen for additional space to store kitchen equipment and food, and countertops on which to safely prepare them. Additionally, City Hope opens up their existing shower to clients as needed. This has helped build relationships but has also created with a pressing need to launder the towels and clothing. PFF is proud to once again partner with City Hope to assist with their expansion plan to increase kitchen capacity and add a washer/dryer unit.
Ranch Hand Rescue (Dallas) works to save abused and neglected farm animals with special focus on animals requiring critical care, to adopt out rehabilitated animals, to provide a caring sanctuary for the animals that have ongoing needs and to help people with personal, mental and psychological challenges to change and better their lives through Equine/Animal Assisted Counseling. Our trustee Michael Tooke has formed a relationship with RHR through site visits and even took his daughter along last year. She loved meeting the animals!
Ranch Hand Rescue is in the process of completing an expansion. After securing all of the funding and permits needed to construct their new Business/Welcome Center/Counseling Building, RHR was informed of additional requirements that significantly increased the cost of the project. We provided initial funds for the expansion and this year’s grant will allow RHR to complete their plans for a permanent Business/Welcome Center/Counseling Building that meets the city standards.
BikeWorks (Seattle) builds sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling. Originally founded by a group grassroots activists, this year Bike Works is celebrating their 20th anniversary. Over those two decades they have remained committed to three core goals: (1) empower youth to lead healthy and productive lives; (2) make biking affordable and accessible to all people; and (3) promote sustainable transportation and environmental stewardship. We’ve gotten to know this incredible organization through our trustee Bryan Papé and his company, MiiR. As giving partners, BikeWorks and MiiR offer Seattle youth access to affordable transportation and job training.
Bike Works is the only organization of its kind in Seattle. Working at the intersection of youth development, healthy living, environmental stewardship and economic justice, their continuum of youth programs, classes and summer camps are designed to provide hands-on skills while helping youth realize their own worth within a community that supports, encourages and strengthens them. A grant from PFF will be used to purchase six ‘Long-Haul Trucker’ Touring Bikes & Associated Equipment
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