Charity

Ticket Giveaway: RACC's pARTy in the Name of Art

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 12:01:00 -0800

Not your mama's mayor: Mayor Sam Adams and drag queen Poison Waters at Portland Monthly's Light A Fire celebration earlier this fall.

In his four years in office, Mayor Sam Adams has championed local arts and culture in ways as big as working to restore arts education to Portland public schools and as small as highlighting arts-related Kickstarter campaigns on his website. Now, as Adams prepares to leave office at year's end, the Regional Arts & Culture Council is showing their appreciation by throwing him a going-away bash.

RACC's pARTy in the Name of Art, taking place at YU Contemporary December 7, will toast the mayor while raising funds for two RACC programs aligned with his initiatives: the schools-focused Right Brain Initiative and the workplace-giving program Work for Art.

First up is a patron reception at 6:30 pm featuring beer from Hopworks Urban Brewery, cocktails from Bull Run Distillery, and the talents of Storm Large, gospel-singer Julianne Johnson, BodyVox Dance, The Circus Project, PHAME Academy, Scott Poole, and the Portland Flash Choir, plus video appearances by Fred Armisen, Curious Comedy Theater, Cheryl Strayed, Darcelle, and more.

Then RACC will open up the event at 9 pm for a dance party deejayed by Bollywood-beats purveyor Prashant and a midnight breakfast catered by Burgerville. We're giving away a pair of tickets to this latter, loosened-tie portion of the evening–any takers?

This contest is now closed. Patron tickets ($175) are available here and $25 dance party tickets are here.

For more about Portland arts, visit PoMo's Arts & Entertainment Calendar, stream content with an RSS feed, sign up for our weekly On The Town Newsletter, or follow us on Twitter @PoMoArt. Blog content reflects the views of the individual author and not necessarily SagaCity Media, Inc.

Win Tickets to David Lynch's Blue Velvet

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:18:00 -0800

David Lynch catalyzes the story of his film Blue Velvet by having the protagonist, played by Kyle MacLachlan, find a human ear in a field. That image, Lynch once told an interviewer, was actually one of his initial inspirations for the movie—it attracted him, he said, because the earhole is a gateway to the mind.

Lynch’s remarks pretty much sum up not only the career he's made of messing with audiences' heads, but also the deep strangeness of this 1986 cult classic. The plot of the surreal, noir mystery follows MacLachlan’s character as he tries to solve the case of the dismembered ear in his ever-dingier-seeming hometown. Along the way he encounters characters—in both senses of the word—played by Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, and Dennis Hopper (in one of his most memorable roles, as the demented Frank Booth). Watch a trailer below.

The movie ain’t exactly kid-friendly—but attending Tuesday’s screening of it is. That’s because the Portland Monthly- and Tonkin FIAT-presented showing on November 13 at Cinema 21 is a benefit for local arts-focused school Northwest Academy. Think of the children!

This contest is now closed.

You can purchase tickets here for $15 in advance and $17 on the day of the show.

Hurricane Sandy Relief

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:08:00 -0700

Image courtesy Time magazine

In the past few days, you’ve surely been deluged with photos of Superstorm Sandy’s jarring impact on the East Coast. Over 10,000 people have been displaced from their homes and millions have no power to speak of. The number of people in need of support from organizations like the Red Cross is expected to increase in the next few days, and donations from people like you determine just how wide-reaching their impact can be. If you’re ready to take action, here are some of your options:

Mercy Corps

The Red Cross

You can also text the word “REDCROSS” to 90999 to donate $10.

Catholic Charities

Catholic Relief Services, for aid to the Caribbean

Food Bank for New York City, for aid to residents of NYC

The Lower East Side Recovers, for aid to members of New York’s Lower East Side.

Check out the New Jersey Needs Facebook site

Community Food Bank of New Jersey

You can also text the word “FEEDNJ” to 80888 to donate $10

Astoria NYC Recovers, for aid to residents of New York’s Astoria neighborhood

Staten Island Recovers, for aid to residents of Staten Island

Red Hook NYC Recovers, for aid to residents of New York’s Red Hook neighborhood

Brooklyn Recovery Fund (100 percent of your donation goes directly to Brooklyn disaster relief)

The Humane Society, for aid to stranded or abandoned animals

Charity Navigator is a good site to find practical advice on giving.

Classic Wines Auction Fall Dinners

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:00:00 -0700

Haven't made it out to wine country this harvest season? Let the winemakers come to you this November via the Classic Wines Auction's Fall Winemaker Dinner series. Each year, these intimate dinners bring together headline-making Portland chefs, top-of-the-shelf winemakers, and passionate oenophiles from around the region for memorable multi-course nights to benefit five local non-profits.

Since 1982, the Classic Wines Auction has raised over $30 million for local charities, and this year is set to be another record-breaking fundraiser benefiting Metropolitan Family Service, New Avenues for Youth, Friends of the Children-Portland, YWCA Clark County and Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel.

Due to the incredible popularity of these annual benefit events, many dinners have sold out, but tickets still remain for the evenings of November 13th and 14th at The Bent Brick (with Syncline and Helioterra Wines), Wildwood Restaurant (with Adelsheim Vineyard), Mucca Osteria (with Admiralty Beverage Co.), Nel Centro (with Bethel Heights Vineyard), Urban Farmer (with Archery Summit Winery), and jamison (with J.K. Carriere).

Dinners starts at 6:30, and cost $150 per person ($65 is tax deductible). Head to the Winemaker Dinners website for more information and to purchase reservations for the dinners, as well as raffle tickets to win one of three restaurant gift certificate packages.

Light A Fire 2012

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:36:00 -0700

Portland Monthly's 2012 Light A Fire Award winners will be honored at a celebration dinner at the Portland Art Museum on October 30. After the event, videos highlighting this year's winners will be available here.

Keeping Us Healthy | Awarded to an organization that helps us take care of ourselves

Outside In

Impact at a Glance

Patients Treated In 2011
17,000
Percentage Who Are Homeless
69
Housing Units for Homeless Youth
65

As usual, there are few available chairs in the sunny waiting room of Outside In’s primary care clinic on SW 13th Avenue. Last year nearly 17,000 patients—69 percent of them homeless—flowed through the nonprofit’s medical clinics, a record. But Outside In’s impact on keeping Portland healthy extends well beyond the examination room. “We treat the whole person,” says communications director Kelly Anderson. For instance, because poor nutrition is a serious issue for many of the people it treats, Outside In serves three meals a day, six days a week to homeless youth. To address the lack of education prevalent among that population, Outside In started a school, where in June 17 homeless youth—with the help of one amazing teacher and a lot of volunteers—received their GEDs. Since the nighttime streets harbor threats more severe than just disturbed sleep, some 65 housing units are available for youth ready to make the transition from street life to home life. And because addiction is a persistent problem, Outside In started a needle exchange. Last year the program issued more than 525,000 syringes—and received 99.96 percent of those back—which helps to prevent the spread of diseases that have exorbitant treatment costs and can cut a young life short. One thing Outside In can’t change is the rate of homelessness itself, which has skyrocketed since the economic downturn. From 2010 to 2011, Outside In helped 118 percent more young people than it did just five years before, demonstrating just how essential this nonprofit is to our city.

Growing Creativity | Awarded to an organization working to foster arts and culture in Oregon

THE CIRCUS PROJECT

Image: Mei Ratz

The Circus Project founder Jenn Cohen—pictured here with current and past students—spends a year training between four and six homeless youths.

Impact at a Glance

Year Founded
2008
Number of 2011 Trainees (Homeless Youth)
4
Percentage of 2011 Trainees Now Employed
100

Nineteen-year-old Taylor Coghill just signed a lease on her very first house, a duplex. The day before that, she earned a promotion at the gym where she works. And not long before that, she became engaged. Typical life stuff, really—until you learn that Coghill left home at age 14 and spent four years homeless and backpacking around the country. For Coghill, an articulate, confident, and forthright young woman, these “typical” milestones seem nearly miraculous. Coghill credits her transformation partly to the Circus Project, a four-year-old nonprofit circus performance troupe founded by 36-year-old professional aerialist Jenn Cohen. As part of her nonprofit’s outreach programs (which include free drop-in classes for homeless youth), Cohen, who has also worked as a therapist, spends a year training four to six homeless youths in the rigors of circus performance. But the program teaches much more than, say, how to roll down an aerial silk. “Teaching skills is easy,” Cohen says, standing in the diminutive Northwest neighborhood gym where aerial hoops, ropes, trapezes, and brightly colored silks hang from the ceiling. “Teaching the work ethic is a much, much bigger challenge.” For those young people who stick with the intensive program, the training pays off. All four of last year’s trainees are in housing. All have jobs, and two still work for the Circus Project, running its open gym classes—exactly the kind of result Cohen intended. “It’s more than circus,” Coghill says. “It’s about being accountable to others, respecting others and yourself, taking direction. You can take those skills anywhere.”

Most with the Least | Awarded to an organization doing big things with minimal resources and fewer than five paid staffers

Portland Veterans Acupuncture Project

Image: Mei Ratz

Dr. Diane Miller (left), one of the founders of the Portland Veterans Acupuncture Project, administers treatments to vets in a small Southeast church every Thursday night.

Impact at a Glance

Year Started
2007
Treatments In 2011
1,254
Annual Budget
$4,131

It’s a reality of war: years and even decades after combat, too many service members continue to struggle with war’s devastating effects on their bodies and their spirits. In fact, up to 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war vets and up to 30 percent of Vietnam vets suffer from PTSD or other stress-related ailments. Acupuncture has been shown to help relieve symptoms, yet veterans’ benefits rarely cover the treatment. So when a new generation of soldiers began returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, retired Portland VA Hospital researcher Prudence Marshall, VA doctor Diane Miller, and licensed acupuncturist Rick DeTroy took matters into their own hands, literally. With no website and no budget, in 2007 they rented a small sanctuary in a Southeast church, filled it with lounge chairs, and started offering donation-only acupuncture to veterans every Thursday night. Over five years, the number of veterans the group helps has ballooned. In the first year, the group saw two, maybe three vets a night. Today, it’s more like 25—on a shoestring budget. In 2011, the group administered 1,254 treatments for vets and their spouses and received a mere $4,131 for the effort, an average of just $3.29 per treatment. (Acupuncturists often charge $75 or more per treatment session.) But the scene inside the church provides a testament to acupuncture’s priceless power. After the needles go in, chatter falls away, visible agitation ceases, and arms and legs relax. The relief is palpable—and for veterans like Adam Black, a soldier in Operation Iraqi Freedom and other tours who suffers from PTSD, the weekly treatments are life renewing. “I come in crawling,” he says, “and I leave walking.”

Honoring Our Elders | Awarded to an organization that serves and celebrates the oldest and wisest people in our community

Wisdom of the Elders

Impact at a Glance

Year Founded
1993
Elders’ Stories Captured
300+
Master Storytellers at 2011 Northwest Indian Storytelling Festival
12

Woodrow Morrison Jr., a Native American elder and storyteller from Alaska’s Haida tribe, knows how difficult it is to overcome anger and rage. When he was younger, his method of coping with pain was to fight; as an adult, he continued the pattern by becoming emotionally abusive toward his family. “I was ashamed of myself,” he says. Morrison eventually recovered his spirit. His journey to redemption—which took him to sweat lodges, an Apache therapist, and healing ceremonies—is documented in perpetuity thanks to Wisdom of the Elders. Founded by Rose High Bear and her late husband, Lakota medicine man Martin High Bear, the nonprofit records, preserves, and shares the oral histories and traditional knowledge of indigenous elders (more than 300 since the 1990s)—and uses the stories to help others. “I realized the power of stories to heal,” says Rose High Bear. Morrison’s story, for example, is part of a high school curriculum developed to help Native kids tackle deeply personal subjects rarely covered in a classroom, such as how to avoid and overcome addiction, and the nature of spiritual healing. Wisdom of the Elders also has produced a radio series about Native life, produced a local cable series called Discovering Our Story, and created the Northwest Indian Storytelling Festival. All of it is a way to take Native history and make it very much relevant to life today. “If I put a [traumatic experience] behind me … it’s just going to hit me in the face again,” Morrison says. “But if I let it go, then I can see where it fits into my history, and it starts to make sense.”

Inspiring Our Next Generation | Awarded to an organization doing big things for children

De La Salle North Catholic High School

Image: Courtesy Steve Hambuchen, Courtesy Steve Hambuchen

De La Salle student Calvin Curry (’15) takes notes in his global studies class. The school’s rigorous academics help prepare students for college, where 96 percent of De La Salle grads will end up.

Impact at a Glance

School Population
345
College Enrollment Rate
96%
Annual Tuition
$3,000

You know you’re at a different kind of private school when its president is as proud of the school’s new shower as he is of a recent grad’s full ride to Georgetown University. And De La Salle North Catholic High is anything but typical: Nearly all of its 345 students come from low-income families, and some are so poor or disconnected that the kids don’t even have regular access to a bathroom. The shower ensures that at least one basic need is met. “It’s stories like this that really move me,” says De La Salle president Matt Powell. While most Catholic schools cost more than $10,000 a year, De La Salle’s tuition is less than $3,000. With few exceptions, to attend a student’s family’s income should average no more than about $15,000 per family member. (“We actually have to turn away kids because their families earn too much money,” Powell says.) More than 75 percent of its students receive financial aid. Some of that tuition is made up through the North Portand school’s innovative Corporate Internship Program: once a week, every student works at a paying internship with one of some 80 local companies, including Nike, Columbia Sportswear, and OnPoint. The money they earn goes back to the school—but it also means that by the time these kids leave high school, their résumés are more impressive than those of many college grads, as are their confidence and social skills. Does work detract from the academic program? Hardly. Most students arrive one to two grades behind in math and reading, but 96 percent of them go on to enroll in two- or four-year colleges. “We don’t compromise on the expectations,” Powell says.

Caring for the Planet | Awarded to an organization working to better balance human impacts on the natural environment

Columbia Slough Watershed Council

Image: Mei Ratz

Last year the Columbia Slough Watershed Council’s Slough School brought more than 6,100 students to the water with events like the Aquifer Adventure, a pirate-themed exploration of the waterway.

Impact at a Glance

Year Founded
1994
Hours Volunteered In 2011
1,650
Pounds of Garbage Removed In 2011
3,000

When Lewis and Clark first traveled down the Columbia in 1805, the explorers wrote that they were “kept up during the whole of the night by swans and geese.” But by 1955, part of that floodplain, the Columbia Slough, once rich with wildlife, sat clogged with tires, sewage, and garbage. “It was treated like a dump,” says Jane Van Dyke, executive director of the Columbia Slough Watershed Council. For nearly 20 years, Van Dyke’s group—with the help of thousands of volunteers—has removed umpteen tons of garbage (3,000 pounds last year alone), planted native alder and cottonwood trees along denuded banks, and removed invasive weeds, such as reed canary grass, that can choke out native species. Perhaps even more important, the council has helped restore the slough’s reputation as a vital part of the Columbia River ecosystem. (That has been a challenge, considering that the waterway remains largely hidden behind industrial buildings and homes—feeding an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality.) Last year, the nonprofit’s Slough School brought 6,157 students to its waters for science-based field trips, and 2,100 people participated in the council’s annual boat trips, walking and paddling tours, and workshops. Those who ply the slough’s highly managed waters by canoe or kayak today may not hear the cacophony of birds that Lewis and Clark did, but they are rewarded by experiencing what many in Portland do not: a hidden oasis that is home to sensitive species like bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and western pond turtles, all harbingers of a waterway that is on the right track.

Best New Nonprofit | Awarded to an organization that is less than three years old

August Wilson, Red Door Project

Impact at a Glance

Year Founded
2011
Number of Performances
20
Conversations Stimulated
Immeasurable

Cocktails typically cap off a night at the theater. But conversation was the only thing on the menu following Profile Theatre’s spring matinee of A Lesson Before Dying, based on the book by Ernest Gaines. Set in Louisiana, Romulus Linney’s gritty play deals head-on with difficult racial themes—the dehumanization of black people, for instance, and how debasement begets anger and self-loathing. Instead of filing out for a manhattan, though, the audience engaged in a discussion about race, a topic many Portlanders find difficult, even impossible, to talk about. “We wanted to create a space where people don’t feel guilty about their feelings around race, where they could be open, not shamed, and grow from the experience,” says Lesli Mones, who cofounded the August Wilson Red Door Project with her partner and the play’s director, Kevin E. Jones, in 2011. The discussion following A Lesson Before Dying was just one of the talk back sessions hosted this spring by the Red Door Project, which “strives to change the racial ecology of Portland,” a city that historically, geographically, and culturally has kept its citizens of color separated from its white ones. During the discussion session, one audience member spoke about developing a fear of black people after being robbed by two black men. Another woman talked about how hard it is being the only black person at a party—time and time again. The discussions provide a way to talk in a forthright way about racism’s very painful legacy. The method has not gone unnoticed. Lauded by the Huffington Post, the nonprofit this year is collaborating with Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland Art Museum, and others to mount work by people of color. “Ultimately, we aren’t just trying to create black theater,” Jones says. “What we want is the experience of human connection.”

Game-Changing Project | Recognizes an innovative collaboration or event that produces a significant financial impact or greater public awareness for one or more nonprofits

“I Have a Dream” Foundation & Friends of the Children’s TARGETED MENTORING INITIATIVE

Image: Courtesy Diana Sell

Friends of the Children’s Karin Zimmer with Alder Elementary first-grader Chloe. In 2010, Alder became an “I Have a Dream” Foundation–Oregon Dreamer School.

Impact at a Glance

Students at Alder
658
Percent Who Are Homeless
20
Years Committed to Working With Each Child
16

East Portland’s Alder Elementary has one of the state’s highest rates of students coping with economic hardship: last year, 94 percent were eligible for free lunch. Twenty percent were homeless. Bluntly, the odds that kids who start at Alder in the fall will still be at Alder in the spring are fairly low, to say nothing of the chance that these kids will go on to college. But today when Alder’s 658 kids show up for class, the first thing they see is a sign reading “Alder Students Are College-Bound,” in both English and Spanish. That’s more than feel-good sloganeering. It’s a reality being brought to life through the “I Have a Dream” Foundation–Oregon, which helps at-risk kids thrive in school. In 2010, IHAD Oregon dubbed Alder a “Dreamer School,” the first time the nonprofit committed to mentoring an elementary school’s students from kindergarten through college. Mark Langseth, the nonprofit’s CEO, knew that getting Alder grads to the ivory towers would require help. “There are a lot of nonprofits already doing great work,” he says. “I realized if we coalesce our resources, we can make a bigger difference.” So for the past two years, he’s collaborated with 50 area nonprofits and schools to get the kids the help they need. Friends of the Children was key among them: their monitors spent six weeks observing Alder kindergartners and looking for factors such as aggression, low self-esteem, and anxiety—indicators of particularly troubled kids. One hundred students were paired with volunteers, who spend time with them every week. The 16 students with the highest risk factors were matched with a paid FOTC mentor, who commits several hours a week over several years. Yes, years. Helping kids with a rough start “is not a quick fix. It’s long-term,” FOTC president Terri Sorensen notes. As such, Alder will have to wait another 10 years to see if it achieves its goal, but so far, signs are good: the National Institutes of Health is conducting a study on the FOTC’s long-term mentoring model. And in just six months, many Alder first- and second-graders who received intensive reading help through the program advanced about one grade level or more.

Extraordinary Pro Bono | Awarded to an individual or company whose contribution of services, supplies, or time has had a major impact in the nonprofit community

Boora Architects for Literary Arts

Impact at a Glance

Years Literary Arts Went Without a Home
27
Hours Boora Donated
400
Labor Costs and Materials Donated
$44,000

Portland’s 28-year-old Literary Arts may qualify as the city’s oldest foster child. For its first 27 years the nonprofit—which runs the Oregon Book Awards and other programs—didn’t have a home of its own, seeking shelter instead inside other organizations’ offices. Most recently, it was housed in the super-sleek Wieden & Kennedy building. The space had its perks: it was cheap, and it was chic. But in 2011, Dan Wieden informed the nonprofit that he needed the space to expand his business. Enter Boora Architects’ John Meadows, who sat on Literary Arts’ board and wanted to help give the nonprofit a home, believing such a space could further its mission to support writers and engage readers. Over the course of five months, Boora donated some 400 hours and more than $44,000 in labor and materials costs to turn a vacant 2,600-square-foot concrete box with plywood walls on SW Washington Street into an airy den of creativity that’s as accessible as it is changeable. With a couple of quick adjustments, the conference room becomes a lecture-hall-in-miniature for up to 65 people. Touring writers have used the space to celebrate book releases, and a catering kitchen means donor parties no longer have to squeeze into a hotel conference room. Budget limitations nixed the floor-to-ceiling windows, but there is one element Literary Arts executive director Andrew Proctor refused to give up. On each side of the cantaloupe-colored walls are two rolling ladders for reaching books on high shelves, an archetypal element signifying immediately that this is home, sweet home for, as Proctor says, “confirmed book nerds.”

Extraordinary Volunteer

Jonathan Johnsongriffin

Impact at a Glance

Students Helped Annually
25–30
Hours Donated Annually
2,000
Percent Who Enroll in College
100

You have to look hard to locate the computer on the desk of Nike sportswear designer Jonathan Johnsongriffin, hidden as it is by a rainbow riot of sports shoes. The scene is fitting for a rising creative star who’s devoted his professional life to dreaming up sportswear—and his personal life to passing that knowledge on. When Johnsongriffin first arrived at Nike in 2005, he thought the Fortune 500 company could do a lot more to develop the careers of Portland’s urban youth—the very ones buying Nike products. So in 2007, the then 23-year-old founded the Nike Product Creation Experience, a product design training program for public school kids. Partnering with North Portland’s Self Enhancement Inc, Johnsongriffin and his cadre of 40 Nike professionals give 25 to 30 Portland public high school students each year an intensive, hands-on training in product design and marketing. Twice a week, the students meet with Nike employees to get lessons in public speaking, market research, product development, and even computer-aided design. Johnsongriffin wants the participants to envision a career in sports that isn’t dependent on, say, becoming a superstar point guard. “I wanted them to see Nike as a place they could reach,” says Johnsongriffin, who estimates that the group volunteers some 2,000 hours a year. At the end of each term, the Creation Experience students send their completed designs down a runway in a finale show. This year’s winners—who created a head-to-toe look for tattooed New York Knicks power forward Amar’e Stoudemire—were awarded a trip to New York, where they attended an NBA draft, met Giants’ wide receiver Victor Cruz, and visited Parsons School of Design. Even more impressive than the products, though, is the kids’ personal success: 100 percent of participants in the Nike Product Creation Experience have gone on to college.

Emerging Leader | Awarded to a staff or board member under the age of 40 with demonstrated promising ability to further the nonprofit’s mission or improve its impact

Chabre Vickers

Impact at a Glance

Big Brothers Big Sisters Volunteers Recruited
85+
Donations Received Thanks to Vickers
$220,000
Boards She Serves On
10+

When most people seek salvation, they don’t look in a barbershop. They go to church. Chabre Vickers went to both. In need of more exceptional African American men to mentor at-risk youth in Portland, the director of community relations and diversity programs for Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest went to the places where she knew she’d find them. At the barbershops, she’d hire a DJ and serve some food, all the while bending ears about the importance of volunteering. “Yes, I’m a talker,” the 28-year-old admits with a smile. She’s also persuasive: in one church event alone last year, she signed up 85 new volunteers for the Big Brothers Big Sisters—a personal best. Winning more recruits for her organization, which mentors up to 3,000 kids each year, is but one of the brag-worthy feats for Vickers, who might be considered one of Portland’s superconnectors. She also holds leadership positions in Young Professionals of Portland, sits on the board of environmental justice group Groundwork Portland, and is on the steering committee of the Portland African American Leadership Forum. Through her meetings with Nike’s Black Employee and Friends Network, Big Brothers Big Sisters has received more than $220,000 in donations. What’s her secret? “I just strive for authentic relationships,” Vickers says, “and those relationships feed into my ability to do my job better.”

Extraordinary Board Member

Ken Thrasher

Impact at a Glance

Current Boards
12
Revenue Increase At FOTC
12%
Additional Kids FOTC Could Serve As a Result
50

The list of all the boards, committees, and campaigns Ken Thrasher has served on reads like a Shakespearean soliloquy: impressive, very, very long—and ultimately inspiring. Let it suffice to say that the retired CEO and president of Fred Meyer currently sits on a dozen boards—many of them focused on helping young people improve their lives, graduate from college, and get good jobs to sustain their families and their futures. It’s a passion of Thrasher’s that’s also personal. The Franklin High School and OSU grad grew up in a family with two divorces, and spent much of his youth being raised by a single stepfather. “We didn’t have much,” he says. But in high school he went to work for the Portland businessman Bill Naito, who was struck by Thrasher’s work ethic and became not just a boss but a mentor and friend. Naito impressed upon Thrasher the importance of volunteerism, a lesson he has since taken to the nth degree. What he brings to the table is invaluable for nonprofits: he gets them to focus on strategic planning, hitting fundraising benchmarks, and using those strong strategic plans to track progress. That’s exactly what he did for Friends of the Children. Under Thrasher’s leadership, the nonprofit increased revenue by 12 percent over a two-year period—allowing it to serve an additional 50 kids. And he does all of this without a hint of ego. Receiving awards? Not his thing. “I don’t care who gets the credit,” he says. “I just want to help kids.”

Extraordinary Executive Director

Dennis Morrow, Janus Youth Programs

Impact at a Glance

Years As Executive Director
32
Budget In 1980
$500,000
Budget Today
$9 million

If growth is the merit badge of an effective nonprofit executive director, consider Dennis Morrow an Eagle Scout. In Morrow’s 32 years at the helm of Janus Youth Programs, the nonprofit has grown from a school and five safe houses for troubled, addicted, and runaway youth to a network of more than 40 programs in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Today, Janus does everything from creating community vegetable gardens in public housing complexes to running homeless youth shelters and, most recently, helping young women entrapped by sex traffickers. Its budget has grown, too—from $500,000 in 1980 to more than $9 million today. But what makes Morrow not just effective, but truly extraordinary, are his compassion, empathy, and advocacy for both the tough cases his agency serves—drug-addicted youth, juvenile sex offenders, teen mothers, runaways—and for his 250-some staff members. More than 30 percent of his employees, who could be making more money elsewhere, have been with Janus for more than five years. “I want to create a place where people feel valued, supported, and cared about,” says Morrow, who also refuses to let his staff label any young person as “resistant” or “unmotivated.” (“If they were motivated or compliant, they wouldn’t need us,” he notes.) That environment isn’t going away anytime soon, either: Morrow, who is 64, has no plans to retire in the immediate future, in part because he has eight children, ages 15 to 47—six of them adopted from extremely challenging situations. That means he’s been a consumer of many social services himself and has experienced firsthand how many agencies can exclude the toughest kids from help, a reality that has fueled his own determination. “It’s our job to keep them alive and keep them connected to our services,” he says.

Lifetime Achievement | Awarded to an individual who has showed a tireless commitment to the nonprofit community over a lifetime of service

Allen Nause, artists repertory theatre

Image: Mei Ratz

In his 24-year tenure as Artists Repertory Theatre's artistic director, Allen Nause has added thousands of subscribers and increased the annual budget to $2.5 million.

Impact at a Glance

Years As Artistic Director
24
Annual Subscribers In 1988
100
Annual Subscribers Today
4,000

In 1988, when Allen Nause stepped into the spotlight as artistic director of Artists Repertory Theatre, there wasn’t much worth applauding: the company was an ambitious but leaderless entourage of underpaid actors, the theater had 100 annual subscribers at most, and performances were held in the third floor of a building owned by the YWCA. Nause, an actor and director, knew little about running a nonprofit, but it turned out he had a natural aptitude for leadership. He committed to upping the subscriber base to solidify the financial base, and then made a decision to compensate artists for their worth, making Artists Rep the second theater in Portland to enter into a contract with the Actors’ Equity union. Perhaps most presciently, he also vowed never to compromise the theater’s artistic mission: to challenge audiences with adventurous, provocative plays, especially new works and radically reimagined takes on classics (productions include TopDog/Underdog, Death of a Salesman, and Blackbird). A quarter-century later, Nause has built a loyal following of audience-believers whose high expectations of the theater match his own. The longest-running theater company in Portland, Artists Rep now boasts some 4,000 subscribers, an annual budget of $2.5 million, and its very own building, jauntily painted red, on SW Morrison Street. It has not one but two intimate theater spaces. Nause will retire next summer, but he remains as committed to mounting challenging work as ever. “The biggest mistake a company can make is to ask, ‘What does the audience want?’” he says. “Instead you should always ask, ‘What do we believe in?’”

Slide Show: Suds and Swine

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:45:00 -0700

On November 9, the Oregon Culinary Institute hosted a five-course "Suds & Swine" dinner to help raise money for the Chefs Collaborative, a local nonprofit that connects chefs and farmers.

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Pink Martini + The Von Trapp Family = The Yam-Hills Are Alive Concert

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:00:00 -0700

For two decades, fifth-generation farmer Ramsey McPhillips and a motley crew of neighbors have waged a quixotic battle to stop a mountainous landfill in the heart of Oregon’s wine country from growing even bigger. Thus far, they’ve managed to stall Waste Management, the landfill’s owner and the largest waste company in North America, from doubling the footprint of the dump from 85 acres to 172 acres (that’s 158 football fields, or, since we’re arts lovers here, 374 Armory Buildings). But events in the next few months could determine if the landfill closes for good or continues growing for possibly another 30 years.

Our story of the farmer and the landfill—based off a spring and summer spent in Yamhill County interviewing folks on all sides of the struggle, attending meetings, and wading through documents—just came out in the September issue of Portland Monthly. You can read it here.

What exactly does this have to do with Culturephile, you might ask, beyond the fact that half the landfill's waste comes from the Portland Metro Area? Well, part of McPhillips success stems from his ability to garner help from cultural partners. Eat Beat reported on a fundraiser he threw with local culinary superstars in April, and Pink Martini bandleader Thomas Lauderdale has been a long time supporter.

Which brings us to, drumroll, please: The Yamhills Are Alive! Portland fans of Pink Martini well know Lauderdale’s historian’s zeal for tracking down often forgotten musical stars of Golden Era stage and screen and reintroducing them to audiences. Phyllis Diller, Jane Powell, Carol Channing, Jimmy Scott—it’s an incredible list. And now he’s invited the Von Trapp Family Singers, the actual great-grandchildren of Maria and Georg Von Trapp, whose escape from Nazi-occupied Austria was made legend in The Sound of Music, to join Pink Martini and China Forbes for a benefit concert to help raise funds for the Stop the Dump Coalition.

The benefit is Sunday, September 16 at Youngberg Hill Vineyard in McMinnville. A free Salt & Straw ice cream social, along with food carts and wine, kicks things off at 2:30, and then the concert begins at 4:00.

Tickets and further info are available here.

For more about Portland arts, visit PoMo's Arts & Entertainment Calendar, stream content with an RSS feed, sign up for our weekly On The Town Newsletter, or follow us on Twitter @PoMoArt. Blog content reflects the views of the individual author and not necessarily SagaCity Media, Inc.

Light A Fire 2011

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Inspiring our Next Generation
Multnomah Education Service District Outdoor School

Image: Stuart Mullenberg

Da Vinci Arts Middle School sixth graders with their counselor, “Pawt Stikkr,” after a soil field study

Hands up: who’s licked a slug? If you attended the sixth grade in Multnomah County, we’re betting you may have … or that you brought back some other camp stories from Outdoor School, a sleepaway environmental education program that’s become a legendary institution since its inception in 1966. Free to most participants and part of the annual sixth-grade curriculum throughout the county, Outdoor School and its annual team of more than 1,300 high school volunteer counselors ensure every student experiences and learns about the natural world at camps near Corbett and Sandy. Students make leaf rubbings, observe migratory birds, and examine invertebrates under a microscope. (And on a dare, some might even sample “Oregon escargot.”) There are other lessons too: away from home and outside of embedded social patterns, Outdoor School creates a safe space for personal growth. “Even the students who were troublemakers in the classroom opened up and had the time of their lives,” says Katie Kramer, who spent five springs as an Outdoor School counselor and special-needs volunteer. “They got a taste of being part of something bigger than themselves: a community.”

Arts & Culture
Northwest Film Center

Image: Stuart Mullenberg

A full house at the Northwest FIlm Center (front row, from left): Bill Foster, executive director; Jessica Lyness, public relations and marketing director; and Ellen Thomas, education director

In an era of Netflix and Hulu, it’s all too tempting to forgo the movie theater in favor of sweatpants and an easy chair. The Northwest Film Center offers a damn good reason to ignore that urge. An important regional resource for filmmakers, students, and visiting artists, the Northwest Film Center has been reminding us for 40 years that “film” embodies more than just the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Its hundreds of screenings each year include smaller films like “Pulp,” a short by an 11th grader questioning the violence in boxing, or The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground, a documentary about a Grammy-winning klezmer group that showed as part of the Jewish Film Festival. “Moving images are so central to the way our society operates,” says the center’s director, Bill Foster, “not just as entertainment, but as the documentation of social change and personal expression.” With classes like sound recording and screenwriting at its School of Film, the center inspires people of all ages to express themselves with movies. And each winter during the Portland International Film Festival, which drew a whopping 35,000 attendees in 2011, the Northwest Film Center spurs the rest of us to get out of the house and enjoy them.

Sustainable Planet
The Wetlands Conservancy

Image: Stuart Mullenberg

Wetlands Conservancy executive director Esther Lev at “Milwaukie’s best-kept secret,” Minthorn Springs Wetlands

The next time you sit down to a plate of cedar-plank Pacific salmon for dinner, be sure to raise a glass to the Wetlands Conservancy. Without the group’s effort to educate the public about the importance of wetlands in everything from preventing flooding to their essential role in providing healthy habitats for salmon, your plate might well be empty. Over the course of its 30-year history, the Wetlands Conservancy has helped raise awareness about these sensitive marshy areas with posters, TV spots, and even on-the-ground guerrilla efforts like the neighborhood gathering it organized in June to educate Tigard residents with yards adjacent to the Roger Hart Wetland Preserve about how to plant and care for their land with the wetland in mind (not using pesticides that will run off into the fragile ecosystem, for example). This spring, the group ran an Aqua Plate Special at local restaurants and grocery stores to raise awareness, identifying seafood that depends on healthy Oregon estuaries. The effort also netted $9,000 in donations. “We want people to understand how wetlands are more than just really cool spaces,” says the group’s executive director, Esther Lev. “They provide functions that intersect with people’s lives.” The Wetlands Conservancy isn’t just sis-boom-bahing wetland preservation, though; it’s an active player in acquiring land. Since the conservancy was founded three decades ago, it has procured more than 1,600 acres around the state, including a preserve in Yaquina Bay and 56 acres in Tualatin. “The Wetlands Conservancy plays a hugely important role in conservation in Oregon,” says Bob Sallinger, conservation director for the Audubon Society of Portland. “There are a lot of land trusts out there, but the Wetlands Conservancy stands out because they bring science and stewardship to the lands they protect.”

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Best New Nonprofit
Creative Cares

Photographer Burk Jackson’s Tanzania images

For nonprofits, creating a compelling story of accomplishments through video, photography, and the written word can mean the difference between luring future-redefining grants and gifts and laying off staff members. Enter CreativeCares, a fledgling nonprofit that pairs creative professionals with the charities that need their skills. Founder Burk Jackson, a veteran freelance photographer, calls the service a kind of Match.com for creatives willing to donate their time to the nonprofits that inspire them. Since its inception in 2010, CreativeCares’ roster of more than 80 copywriters, graphic designers, photographers, filmmakers, and more have helped tell the stories of nonprofits serving everything from Oregon’s homeless population to disabled children in rural Tanzania. In the coming year, Jackson aims to bump his well of creatives and nonprofits to 1,000 each. “Thirty years ago Mercy Corps was just an idea,” Jackson says. “As creatives, we need to be asking, ‘How do we support the other nonprofits to help them become that kind of organization?’”

Honoring our Elders
Senior Citizens Council of Clackamas County

In 2008, West Coast Bank received near daily phone calls from a 70-year-old woman complaining—not about check fees, but about her hunger. So the bank notified Adult Protective Services, which turned to the Senior Citizens Council of Clackamas County, a senior advocacy group. SCC’s investigation revealed that the woman’s family had moved into her tiny house and were squandering her Social Security checks, leaving her without money for food or insulin. The SCC quickly intervened: within two days, they had set the woman up with regular medical care and moved her out of the house. A few months later, they sold her house (depositing the money in her bank account) and ensured her Social Security checks stayed in her hands. Sadly, the initial scenario isn’t unique. Money is most often at the heart of the issues the SCC helps resolve, says executive director Christina Bird, one of just six staff members. In its 40-year history, the SCC’s staff and volunteer force of 25 have helped a small city’s worth of seniors—some 40,000—get back on their feet, be it simply helping them set up auto bill pay, moving into more affordable housing, or, sometimes, untangling more difficult familial financial messes. “Each referral is just as important to us as the one before,” says Bird. “Not only do we—in some cases—save lives, but we also preserve dignity.”

Keeping Us Healthy
Project Access Now

After Gordon Eastman lost his job in 2009, he began having a hard time speaking in coherent sentences. Without health insurance, and convinced he was losing his mind, Eastman ended up at a free urgent care clinic that attributed his impaired mental functions to a case of untreated diabetes. Since the clinic wasn’t set up for the ongoing treatments he needed, providers there turned to Project Access Now, a four-year-old group that helps connect uninsured low-income patients in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington with a network of 3,000 health care providers willing to donate their time. PAN determines what practitioner is the best fit for the patient’s needs, then helps schedule appointments at the physician’s regular offices and even provides appointment reminders and transportation. “A little bit from a lot of people makes a big difference,” says executive director Linda Nilsen-Solares. We’ll say. To date, PAN has connected nearly 6,000 patients like Eastman (who not only found his way back to health, but also found a new job) to the care that, in some cases, saves their lives.

Most with the Least
Farmers Ending Hunger

Image: Stuart Mullenberg

Farmers Ending Hunger’s staff of one: executive director John Burt

To say Oregon has a robust agricultural industry is kind of like saying New York has a decent fashion scene. In 2009 alone our state grew more than 50 million tons of fruit, and that’s to say nothing of the vegetables, grains, fish, and ranch products we also raise each year. Sadly, that bounty doesn’t always find its way to the mouths of our citizens; a new report from Feeding America ranks Oregon second only to Washington, DC, for childhood hunger. But Oregon growers of all kinds are working to change that through Farmers Ending Hunger. Launched in 2006 with a donation of 173,000 pounds of frozen peas, the program stocks pantries like the Oregon Food Bank, soup kitchens, and shelters with supplies donated by farmers and ranchers. Last year, the program distributed about 2 million pounds of fresh fruit and veggies, frozen produce, locally milled pancake mix, and ground beef. Yet after five years in operation, Farmers Ending Hunger still has just one employee—executive director John Burt—and operates on a shoestring budget. In essence, this nonprofit is powered by the people who till the land. “It’s been amazing to see how farmers step up,” Burt says. “They want to be good corporate citizens in the world, but also make the highly personal decision to feed hungry people.” We call that farm-to-heart.

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Extraordinary Pro Bono Contribution
Wieden & Kennedy

Image: Wieden & Kennedy

When the creative forces responsible for Levi’s “Go Forth” campaign and the Old Spice viral video hits featuring Isaiah Mustafa turned their collective brain power toward the nonprofit world last spring, the results were, not surprisingly, pretty spectacular—$1.4 million in donations in a single night kind of spectacular. Led by account director Eric Gabrielson and creative directors Danielle Flagg and Tyler Whisnand (who typically work on Nike and Target accounts, among others), the Wieden & Kennedy team turned a dull Harvard Business School of Oregon report about the sevenfold return on investment for Friends of the Children into a clever, animated video about “Friendonomics.” The video was a cornerstone of the annual fundraising event for Friends of the Children, a local group that pairs professional mentors with vulnerable Oregon kids from kindergarten through high school, and is just one of the many projects to which Wieden & Kennedy has given its talent, gratis, over the past decade. “They treat us like a client and give us just as much respect as they would Coca-Cola or Chrysler,” says Megan Lewis, director of development and marketing at Friends of the Children. “When they have a creative idea, they execute it without any limitations.” For the Friendonomics project, the W&K team donated hundreds of hours—most of them after hours and on weekends—and relied on its stable of talented producers and stylists such as animator David Potter, whose credits include the documentary Deep Green and several projects for Coke, Nike, and Dodge. “That’s the spirit of this place,” says Dan Wieden, cofounder and CEO. “You give back whenever you have the opportunity. We feel like citizens who have a responsibility to create good, meaningful communication. It’s a real honor to do work with organizations like this one.”

Purely for the Love
Mission: Citizen

They may not have been old enough to vote, but that didn’t stop six Lincoln High School students from helping others earn their right to pick our political leaders. Inspired by their rigorous study of the US Constitution for a national civics competition, the students formed Mission: Citizen in 2009 to help immigrants pass their naturalization tests and become American citizens. Since then, dozens of Lincoln students have taught free eight-week courses to about 60 immigrants. Some, like Chan Chanthakoun, an immigrant from Laos, passed on the first try. Others, like Beatrice, a recent class attendee from Rwanda, proved teachers themselves. Beatrice struggled with the concept of political free speech, which Mission: Citizen cofounder Louis Wheatley says taught the Lincoln students not to take the rights afforded to Americans for granted. This summer Mission: Citizen garnered grant money from Community 101/PGE Foundation to expand the program and help even more immigrants … and students. “Their stories help push us to help them achieve a better life,” says Wheatley, now a sophomore majoring in history and romance languages at Dartmouth. “We’re thrilled and honored to be part of that journey.”

Extraordinary Board Member
Linda Wright

In 1990, Linda Wright heard about a little-known nonprofit dedicated to the simple proposition that at-risk, urban youth needed helping hands beyond their families and schools. To move beyond summer and after-school programs to 24-7 counseling and support, the organization, Self-Enhancement Inc, needed its own building—and millions to buy it. It took more than six months, but Wright, then vice president of community relations for US Bank, convinced the bank’s board to fill the gap by making what, to date, had been the largest corporate donation in Oregon history: $1 million. Today students who go through SEI programs graduate high school at a rate of nearly 100 percent (by comparison, the average four-year graduation rate in a PPS high school is 55 percent), and 85 percent of SEI students go on to higher education. Such success couldn’t have been possible without Wright’s 20 years of fundraising efforts. She has cajoled corporations; helped with Art+Soul, SEI’s highest-earning annual fundraiser; and last year even served as the group’s interim development director for six months. She calls herself an adviser, supporter, encourager, and confidante to president, founder, and CEO Tony Hopson Sr. “SEI would not be SEI were it not for Linda Wright,” says Hopson. “For every graduate of our program, and every success we have at SEI, Linda’s handprint is there.”

Extraordinary Volunteer
Barbara Rodriguez

Like so many dedicated volunteers, the soft-voiced Barbara Rodriguez would rather talk about the organization she supports than herself. But staff members at Adelante Mujeres (translation: rise up and move forward, women) have no problem gushing about the dependable woman who’s worked as a volunteer since the organization’s inception in 2002. Adelante provides continuing education and professional development help to 350 low-income Latina women and their families. Among other things, the group provides free business and GED courses, free training in organic farming techniques and marketing (including hands-on experience at the Forest Grove Farmers Market, which Adelante founded), and after-school programming for the children of working families. An indefatigable volunteer, Rodriguez donates the equivalent of five workweeks of her free time each year, serving on the board, helping Spanish-speaking preschool children prepare for kindergarten, and introducing the staff to new technologies. “Bobbie’s eternal patience, positive attitude, and resolute dedication to education and our organization are what make her an invaluable asset to this organization,” says Kate Jackson, development director for the Forest Grove nonprofit. A longtime kindergarten teacher in Oregon’s public schools and a former Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador, Rodriguez says it’s the children who keep her engaged year after year. “I am never depleted,” she says. “Every day is a learning experience. As much as you want to teach the kids, they’re the ones teaching you.”

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Extraordinary Staff Member
Beth Putz

After 13 years of working with kids in crisis at Albertina Kerr, an organization that serves children, adults, and families with mental health challenges and developmental disabilities, Beth Putz remains a diehard optimist. “You can’t last in this field if you flip to pessimism,” she says. When Putz started at Albertina Kerr, as a direct care worker in an inpatient program for kids, she did everything from cook breakfast to take the kids on bike rides. After receiving a master’s degree in counseling psychology, she eventually became the director of Kerr’s Crisis Psychiatric and Foster Care programs, where she’s now on-call 24/7 and regularly logs 50+ hour weeks, sometimes sleeping in her office (as she did during a 2009 snowstorm). And that’s just the time she spends inside Albertina Kerr. Putz also recently completed a 16-month long program through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to cultivate future leaders in community health care services. Her biggest push? Helping to identify the underlying causes of kids’ bad behavior to find long-term solutions. “These kids don’t have the words to express how they feel,” Putz says. “It’s our job to help figure out why they got here.” Her compassion also serves as an inspiration to her coworkers. “Beth has been instrumental in helping me be a positive supervisor,” says Anne Main, who works in Albertina Kerr’s Crisis Psychiatric Care division. “It’s easy to get frustrated with a child who cannot follow expectations, but as Beth likes to say, there isn’t a child who wakes up and says, ‘I’m going to have a bad day and kick or bite someone.’ They all wake up wanting to have a good day. That’s a quote I think about all the time.”

Extraordinary Executive Director
Keith Thomajan

When Keith Thomajan talks about things like “brand dilution” and “fiscal management,” he sounds more like the CEO of a Fortune 500 company than of a nonprofit. And based on his track record at Camp Fire Columbia, an affiliate of a 101-year-old national organization that operates coed outdoor camps, after-school programs for kids, and service-based road trips for teens, he could have easily spent his career garnering profits for corporate shareholders. When he took over as Camp Fire Columbia’s president and CEO in 2001, the organization had faced a decade of six-digit deficits. Thomajan promptly reshaped Camp Fire’s disjointed menu of programs (everything from preventing gang involvement to summer camps for developmentally disabled youth) to focus on high-quality after-school programs designed to help close the achievement gap for low-income youth. His vision quickly garnered a three-year grant from the Gates Foundation, which led to similar grants from other funders. He also instituted new fees for service—allowing more affluent members to subsidize programs for lower-income families—that have put Camp Fire Columbia in the black since 2004. Thomajan’s head might be in numbers, but his heart has always been with people. Soon after college, he taught high school in South Central LA and East Oakland before becoming an Outward Bound instructor. While kids have shaped his sense of purpose, his coworkers keep him excited about his job. “People who are dreamers and want to make a difference, and have a profound toolbox to do so, make me love coming in to work,” he says. “I get amped by their energy.”

Lifetime Achievement
Linda Huddle

Image: Stuart Mullenberg

Linda Huddle’s retirement last year from her post as director of Portland Community College’s Alternative Programs marked the end of a 40-year-career as one of Portland’s most effective advocates for at-risk youth. “These are kids who want the best for themselves and their families but don’t have the right doors available to them,” she says. “Our role as teachers is to open those doors and help them step through and succeed.” Huddle began her extraordinary career as a Spanish teacher at West Linn High in the ’60s. She spent nine years as the youth program manager for the Private Industry Council, which afforded job-training programs to some of Portland’s hardest-to-reach youth. She joined the board for Open Meadow, a nontraditional school in North Portland for struggling students, and was a founding board member of the Youth Employment Institute, which offers everything from gang prevention services to GED classes. In 2000, she became the director of PCC Prep Alternative Programs, allowing her to improve programs to steer troubled students toward completing high school and into college or employment. In that capacity, she codeveloped the Gateway to College program, which helps high school dropouts fulfill collegiate dreams by letting them achieve a high school diploma while earning college credit. The program has expanded into 16 states—and, last year alone, to 100 school districts—thanks in part to an initial $4.8 million grant from the Gates Foundation. “Coming to PCC allowed Linda to bring her previous experiences together to create something really big,” says Pamela Blumenthal, interim director of PCC Prep Alternative Programs. “She’s an absolute visionary.”

Slide Show: An Afternoon With Cole Porter

Tue, 17 May 2011 12:00:00 -0700

May Day afternoon was full to the brim with jazz, high-spirited cocktails and elegant hors d’oeuvres, as was Portland’s heart for charity. Arlene Schnizter and Portland Chamber Orchestra Maestro Yaakov Bergman presented a delightful Afternoon with Cole Porter at the Portland Art Museum, a benefit for both the Harold Schnitzer Diabetes Health Center at OHSU, and the Portland Chamber Orchestra. As guests made their way ...

SEI Here + Now 2011

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:00:00 -0700

Image: Self Enhancement Inc, Self Enhancement Inc

Party with a purpose indeed! (From left) SEI supporter Karis Stoudamire-Phillips, SEI staffer Tracy King, and Marcus Eastland and Will Eberhart from Nike were among the 200-plus attendees at SEI’s Here + Now shindig held April 16 at SEI headquarters.

More than 200 community conscious, dazzlingly dapper professionals dropped in at the North Portland headquarters of Self Enhancement Inc on April 16 for the organization’s annual Here + Now soiree, in order to "Party With a Purpose." This festive affair offered the opportunity for guests to learn more about (and contribute to) SEI’s myriad programs and services that support at-risk urban youth and help them to realize their full potential.

While sampling a sensational array of food from the likes of Bunk Bar, Produce Row, Savoy Tavern, and Besaw’s—not to mention elegant signature cocktails prepared by House Spirits Distillery and a wall of wine from Red Slate Wine Company—happy attendees were treated to testimonials and entertainment from SEI students themselves. The SEI Sounds of Soul Choir, Junior Drummers, and Elementary African Dance were among the groups confidently showcasing their considerable skills and artistry—skills and artistry that are encouraged and given a chance to blossom by the continued efforts of Self Enhancement Inc. All told, the event drummed up over $83,000 for SEI’s coffers thanks to the generosity of those in attendance.

Charity

Ticket Giveaway: RACC's pARTy in the Name of Art

Win Tickets to David Lynch's Blue Velvet

Hurricane Sandy Relief

Classic Wines Auction Fall Dinners

Light A Fire 2012

Slide Show: Suds and Swine

Pink Martini + The Von Trapp Family = The Yam-Hills Are Alive Concert

Light A Fire 2011

Inspiring our Next GenerationMultnomah Education Service District Outdoor School

Arts & CultureNorthwest Film Center

Sustainable PlanetThe Wetlands Conservancy

Best New NonprofitCreative Cares

Honoring our EldersSenior Citizens Council of Clackamas County

Keeping Us HealthyProject Access Now

Most with the LeastFarmers Ending Hunger

Extraordinary Pro Bono ContributionWieden & Kennedy

Purely for the LoveMission: Citizen

Extraordinary Board MemberLinda Wright

Extraordinary VolunteerBarbara Rodriguez

Extraordinary Staff MemberBeth Putz

Extraordinary Executive DirectorKeith Thomajan

Lifetime AchievementLinda Huddle

Slide Show: An Afternoon With Cole Porter

SEI Here + Now 2011

Inspiring our Next Generation
Multnomah Education Service District Outdoor School

Arts & Culture
Northwest Film Center

Sustainable Planet
The Wetlands Conservancy

Best New Nonprofit
Creative Cares

Honoring our Elders
Senior Citizens Council of Clackamas County

Keeping Us Healthy
Project Access Now

Most with the Least
Farmers Ending Hunger

Extraordinary Pro Bono Contribution
Wieden & Kennedy

Purely for the Love
Mission: Citizen

Extraordinary Board Member
Linda Wright

Extraordinary Volunteer
Barbara Rodriguez

Extraordinary Staff Member
Beth Putz

Extraordinary Executive Director
Keith Thomajan

Lifetime Achievement
Linda Huddle