Grants total $83,350 to help organizations delivering services, exclusively, to children and families in Camas and Washougal
CAMAS — Members of the Camas-Washougal Community Chest (CWCC) recently announced the award of 23 grants totaling $83,350 to local nonprofit organizations delivering services, exclusively, to children and families in Camas and Washougal.
The grants will fund such diverse services as emergency food assistance, aid to families in crisis or needing emergency services, safe temporary shelter for at-risk youth, summer reading programs at local libraries or enhancing the habitat of Gibbons Creek in the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
In addition, Campership Awards are being provided to local Camas-Washougal Boy Scout troops to allow families in need to send their scouts to summer camp. Since 1946, the Community Chest has been all about local people helping local people.
Some of the nonprofit organizations being funded in 2018 include Inter-Faith Treasure House, Children Home Society’s East County Family Resource Center, Janus Youth Program and Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership. For a complete listing of the 2018 grant awards see 2018 Grant Program summary listed below..
Thanks to major donations from the GP Foundation, GP employees, Camas School District employees, City of Camas employees, Exterior Wood, Waste Connections, Windermere Foundation, IQ for Kids and the L. R. Mitchner Philanthropic Fund, CWCC is well on the way to funding these grants. To reach its 2018 fundraising goal of $83,350, however, the CWCC needs additional donations from individuals and businesses in Camas and Washougal. More information and donation forms can be found on the CWCC’s website at www.CamasWashougalCommunityChest.org.
The CWCC is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization for federal charitable tax deduction purposes. CWCC President David Pinkernell said, “giving to the Community Chest is an easy and efficient way to help people in need in our hometown.”
2018 Grant Program Summary
Total number of grants awarded — 23
Total value of grants awarded — $83,350
Estimated number of individual services funded by grants — more than 17,000
Community Programs/Projects Funded in 2018
Inter-Faith Treasure House — Helps fund emergency and daily food needs, school backpack program, emergency rent and utility assistance, school supplies and person-in-crisis outreach activities.
Children’s Home Society — East County Family Resource Center Helps fund family educator/case manager position. Helps fund parent education groups, youth support groups, emergency basic assistance, behavioral health services and health care services.
Partners with Camas Parks and Recreation — Helps buy Camtown Youth Festival’s arts and crafts supplies.
Camas School District: Principal’s Checkbook — Helps Camas school principals provide for basic student needs to give these students equal opportunities at school.
Washougal School District: Principal’s Checkbook — Helps Washougal school principals provide for basic student needs to give these students equal opportunities at school.
Janus Youth Programs — Provides funding for facility stays for Camas and Washougal runaway youth at risk for abuse and neglect. Re-introduces kids to safe housing.
Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership — Provides classroom lessons and outdoor applied learning programs for youth, including habitat enhancement projects adjacent to Gibbons Creek in the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
Meals on Wheels — Purchases food and food service supplies for Camas and Washougal Meals on Wheels program.
Friends and Foundation of the Camas Library — Supports the Camas Library’s summer reading program for kids and teens.
Fort Vancouver Regional Library — Washougal Branch Supports the Washougal Library’s summer reading program for kids and teens.
Lifeline Connections — Helps women secure safe and appropriate housing after completing a six-month residential treatment program for substance use disorders.
Friends of the Columbia Gorge — Helps fund the Explore the Gorge classroom lessons and outdoor environmental education program for sixth graders in Jemtegaard and Canyon Creek Middle schools in Washougal School District.
REACH Community Development — Funds staff, administrative and supply costs to provide classes, workshops and meetings for residents of Gateway Gardens in Washougal to build their financial self-sufficiency.
Camas Farmers Market — Helps implement “Produce Pals”, a weekly activities program to educate children about where and how food is produced. Kids completing weekly program receive a $2 token to spend at Camas Farmers Market – grant will buy tokens.
Opera Quest Northwest — Helps to educate, enrich and instill a love of music in children by introducing them to opera through a lively production that blend classic opera excerpts with a humorous, interactive script.
Pathways Pregnancy Clinic — Helps buy ultrasound supplies, pregnancy test kits and pregnancy test controls and purchases an adjustable ultrasound exam table to replace an old non-adjustable table.
Camas-Washougal Historical Society — Helps build The Gathering Place at Washuxwal, an open air pavilion next to the Two Rivers Heritage Museum. The exhibits in the pavilion will educate visitors about native heritage in the Camas and Washougal area.
Evergreen Habitat for Humanity — Helps buy materials for A Brush with Kindness residential fix-up projects in the Camas and Washougal area.
General Federation of Women’s Clubs — Helps buy age appropriate books, backpacks and other learning tools for a Reach for the Stars with Books program at Hathaway Elementary School. Program aimed at youth from birth through age 5 to grow their school readiness skills and strengthen their social interaction skills.
Journey Theater Arts Group — Helps cover a portion of the rental fee to put on a production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Washburn Performing Arts Center in Washougal May 18 – 27, 2018.
TreeSong Nature Awareness and Retreat Center — Helps cover event costs and buys supplies for Run Wild! Nature Adventures Family Fun Day at Fallen Leaf Lake Park in Camas. Run Wild! is a participatory event that immerses attendees in the beauty of nature through nature education, physical activity, storytelling, art, music, and theater.
D. Currie Youth Camp — Helps cover a portion of the preliminary engineering costs to construct an indoor restroom connected to water and sewer lines to replace four outdoor vaulted unplumbed latrines.
Boy Scouts of America — Camas/Washougal Troops Helps fund Campership Awards so that families in need can send their scouts to summer camp.
