Bank of America Supports Community Relief Fund

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has awarded $100,000 for the four-county Community Relief Fund campaign to provide emergency food, rent and utilities assistance for people in need.

“Many of our neighbors and nonprofit organizations are challenged like never before and Bank of America’s strategy of providing meaningful and relevant support to the communities we serve has never been more important,” Bank of America Oregon and Southwest Washington market president Roger Hinshaw said.

“United Way’s leadership in creating the Community Relief Fund is exactly the right partnership to help deliver much-needed support in the four-county area. We’re especially pleased 100 % of all donations will go to local agencies on the front lines of helping some of our communities’ most impacted citizens.”

The Community Relief Fund is an alliance that includes the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, Oregon Food Bank, and Community Action Programs in all four metro-area counties to boost an already strained community safety net. The appeal for emergency funds will help support families who have been hardest hit in the economic crisis with basic needs like food, rent, and utilities.

Have you seen our ads?

Special thanks to Magneto Brand Advertising and other creatives who contributed their time and talent to launch radio, television and newspaper ads for the Community Relief Fund.

Community Relief Fund creative geniuses:

Magneto Brand Advertising

Matt Barbee

Andy Batt Studio

Casey Boyd & Joey

Jim Davis

Digital One: Eric Stolberg, Guy Baker

Gearhead Grip: Joel Stirnkorb

Gypsy TV - Brian Grubb

Rizal Hosek

Leslie Kobyluck

Koerner Camera: Michael Koerner

Todd Korgan

Lana Veenker Casting: Lori Lewis and Eryn Goodman

Limbo Films: Gary Nolton, Deanna Rizzo

Mission Control - George Mitchell, Mike Quinn, Slater Dixon

Phresh Catering

Portland Center Stage: Joe Visnic

Steve Settle

Gabe Smith

Meyer Memorial Trust Awards $100K Grant to Community Relief Fund

Meyer Memorial Trust announced a matching grant of $100,000 to support the Community Relief Fund to provide rent and utilities assistance for people in need.

“We are eager to support the Community Relief Fund to assist people struggling through these uncertain and challenging times. We commend the coalition for responding to increasing demand for critical human services,” says Doug Stamm, CEO, Meyer Memorial Trust.

Meyer Memorial Trust joins other grantmakers like the Oregon Community Foundation, Providence Health & Services, and Enterprise Rent-a-Car Foundation in responding to the community-wide effort to raise dollars for local front-line agencies.

Read more

Community Relief Fund In the News

Thanks to local print and broadcast media for their coverage of the Community Relief Fund.

Marc Levy, CEO and President of the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, has been interviewed on Metroscope radio station, KGW Live at the Square, and KEX radio. We very much appreciate the editorials published in The Oregonian and The Jewish Review, as well as coverage in The Columbian.

Get the latest on the Community Relief Fund

Join the surge in community relief

Thanks to the Oregonian editorial board for running a piece in the March 23 edition of the paper urging their readership to support the Community Relief Fund, led by United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.

"Social service agencies estimate that there more than 100,000 people out of work in the counties surrounding Portland. That is about twice last year's number. Over the past three months, calls to 2-1-1 emergency resources phone line up were up 40 percent. Demand at regional food banks is up by 20 percent compared with last year. State unemployment has risen to double digits. Utilities say about a fifth of their customers are having trouble paying their bills."

Read the entire editorial

Jewish Federation of Greater Portland Supports Community Relief Fund

Thanks to the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland for supporting the Community Relief Fund with a new campaign to raise funds for those in need in our community. The Jewish Review posted a story about the new campaign:

Owing to the urgent and growing local demand for vital human services provided by the Jewish Family and Child Service and the United Way Community Relief Fund in the ongoing world economic crisis, the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland has announced an additional fund-raising effort to run alongside its current ongoing Annual Campaign.

Dubbed “Heart to Heart—A Jewish Response to Community Needs,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden has agreed to serve as honorary chair of the campaign, which willbenefit only JFCS and the UWCRF, two agencies on the very front line of the economic crisis where its devastating impact on the lives of individuals is testing the community’s ability to respond adequately.

In an announcement unveiling the new campaign, JFGP Annual Campaign Co-chairs Rabbi Alan Berg, Sharon Weil and Michael Weiner said, “The emergency needs facing families today, both in the Jewish and general communities, demand more of us.”

Of the plan to share donations with United Way they said, “Tikkun Olam reminds us that we are our brother’s keeper. We are integral parts of the larger Portland community.”

Read the entire article in The Jewish Review

Charities and aid agencies unite to get ahead of need

Thanks to The Columbian reporter Scott Hewitt for excellent coverage of the Community Relief Fund campaign in last Sunday's Metro Section.

Economic stress, layoffs, evictions, rising prices for food, utilities, transportation -- it's a desperate time out there right now.

So the United Way of Columbia-Willamette, which undertakes a regional fundraising drive to support charity and aid agencies every fall, has launched an additional emergency campaign.

"These are extraordinary times that demand an extraordinary effort," said Marc Levy, United Way's chapter president. "We need to shore up the safety net for those most in need."

The Community Relief Fund will collect and funnel 100 percent of donations to local nonprofit agencies that strive to keep people from hitting bottom. No overhead or operating costs will be deducted.

Providing assistance for food, rent, utilities and other basic needs may mean the difference between despair -- or worse -- and the possibility of a decent future, Levy said.

Read the entire article