Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest Creates Connections

Portland, OR. Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest (BBBS) raised  $475,000 at its “Impact of a Connection” gala. After a two-year Covid-prompted hiatus, the benefit was held at The Redd on Salmon Street on September 22nd. It raised funds to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that supporters say help to ignite the power and promise of youth. At the event, Nick Kristof, New York Times Columnist, and Artis Stevens, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters America posed for a photo together. (Photo credit, Adam Levy)

From Big Brothers Big Sisters:

The sun shined bright as guests arrived to enjoy the cocktail hour, packed with entertainment featuring saxophonist Eldon “T” Jones, Finn the Magician, a 360 photo booth, and delicious cocktails from Tito’s Handmade Vodka. We were joined by a special guest speaker, Artis Stevens, President & CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, who gave a moving speech about the importance of mentorship in the lives of youth. Alumni Little, Lindsey Murphy, celebrated her 30th year in contact with her Big Sister, Melissa, a science teacher that inspired her to start her wildly popular Youtube show, the FabLab.

The night concluded with a celebration of the 2022 Bigs and Littles of the year highlighting the matches of Big Brother Gus and Little Brother Jason and Big Sister Monica and Little Sister Jeni who took the stage to accept their awards. As a community, we were able to raise a record-breaking $475,000 in support of our one-to-one mentoring programs here in Portland and SW Washington. One of the best parts of the night happened among all the staff and event volunteers after the event when, Beach Pace, BBBSCNW CEO, rallied everyone together to take a moment to take pride in all the work we had all put into this event.

A sincere thank you to everyone who made this event a beautiful success. It takes a village, and we are so glad you are a member of our village. Our sincerest appreciation goes out to our 2022 Gala Committee led by co-chairs Suzy Alexander, and Lee Lenker. A BIG thank you to our Presenting Sponsors Twenty Four 7 and Concentrix Catalyst, our Ignite Sponsors The Standard, OnPoint Community Credit Union, Nike, M Financial Group, Cambia Health Solutions, Anderson Construction, our Inspire Sponsors KPMG, Moss Adams, Comcast, Baird, General Sheet Metal, Hillsboro Hops, M Science, Sheldon Warmington & Janel Warmington and Table Sponsors @ACME, Advantis Credit Union, Brown & Brown Insurance. Barran Liebman LLP, Natasha Elhaj-Hedinger, Kaiser Permanente, Moda Health, North Highland, owamagbe odighizuwa, Pacific West Bank, Parker, Smith & Feek, TM Rippey Consulting Engineers and Xenium HR!