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

Happy New Year!

I am very excited about the launch of our renovated web site today!  We are hopeful that it will help streamline our grant application process and enable us to better serve the organizations in our communities.  I’m especially pleased with our new online grant application form and our Grants in Action page, featuring many of the organizations we partner with and the projects we’ve helped to support.

Our new layout was designed by Denise Limón at lemontwistwebdesign.com . Credit for our updated logo goes to Katy Krupp at element-graphics.com .  Our beautiful home page photo was taken by trustee Michael Tooke.  And finally, a HUGE thanks to our board president, Sarah Pittman, who oversaw the development of our updated web site while also moving her family back home to Texas!

After an overwhelming response to our 2015 call for grant applications (thanks all!), we’re adapting the process for 2016.  We welcome your feedback as we try something new and consider how we can improve the experience for all involved.

This cycle we’re starting with Letters of Inquiry.  In order to accommodate holidays and our grant committee members commitments in their daily lives outside the foundation, we’ve set the first deadline in this next cycle for November 1.  We’ll review these requests and invite a select number of organizations to submit a full application in January/February.  Currently our board of trustees meets once a year in the summer and we traditionally vote on grants when we’re all together.  Admittedly, this makes for a pretty long grant cycle.  We hope this won’t put off potential partners in our communities and we welcome feedback for the future.  And remember to submit your LOI this week!  Visit our grant page for more details.  I’m looking forward to reading your proposals!

I cleaned out our files this past spring and found a few gems in the piles of founding documents for our foundation.  One was “Rules of Engagement” to guide family meetings.  I shared it over the summer at our annual meeting and we all got a good laugh.  But seriously, these aren’t bad ideas for group interaction!

1. Come to the table ready to participate.

2. Listen!  Have the courtesy to listen to whoever has the floor.

3. Leave your organizational 2×4 at the door.

4. State your opinion.  No opinion means agreement.

5. Include entire group in discussion and comments.  No splinter conversations.

6. State your case clearly and briefly.

7. There are no dumb ideas.

8. All participants are equal.

9. No war stories.

10. Pick solutions, not fights.

11. No cheap shots – attach ideas not individuals.

12. Turn off all cellular devices.

13. Have FUN! Enjoy the meeting and those around you.

 

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2015 application process!  We received over twice as many applications as last year – 50! – setting a new record for our foundation.  Thanks for your willingness to try out our new online format, give feedback, and help us refine our grant making process.  I am now reviewing these applications and as always it is such a pleasure to read about all the amazing work being done in family members’ communities.  The grant committee will then have the very difficult task of considering each project and making a final recommendation to our board.

We appreciate your patience as we move forward with the next phase of our grant cycle and prepare for our annual meeting in July.  All applicants will be notified of the board’s decision by August.

Again, thank you for your overwhelming response!  We are indebted to everyone who applied – we could not exist without organizations who partner with us for the benefit of our communities.