Portland, OR. Ride Connection continues to serve older adults and people with disabilities by connecting them to the essential services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Most recently, this has included accessible transit to vaccine appointments. The nonprofit is also delivering food boxes and providing transportation to life-sustaining medical appointments like dialysis and cancer treatments during the pandemic.
Ride Connection has teamed up with Food Pantries to deliver groceries. Customers can sign up to receive free food boxes.
Ride Connection follows the guidance of local government and the CDC.
Access to transportation is a pivotal piece for individuals to be connected to their essential services. However, many feel unsafe leaving their homes during this time, so bringing services to seniors and disabled people has become vital.
Ride Connection is also making wellness checks, explaining, “Since many of our customers aren’t leaving their homes, we are calling them with a quick hello and making sure they are doing well. We understand that many of our customers live in social isolation and their normal Ride Connection ride might have been their only social interaction for the day.”
From Ride Connection:
With the support of so many, Ride Connection has been able to continue to provide these vital services to keep our most vulnerable population safe, connected, and healthy.
Please consider joining us by making a donation today. Your gift will help someone who has no other options in a time when they need it most. Make a gift here.
Ride Connection is a private, non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon. We offer ways for people to access the goods and services they need to survive and thrive. By giving people the means to get around, we offer independence, health, and inclusion.
The Ride Connection network is made up of a collection of agencies that serve older adults and people with disabilities as well as low-income individuals and the general public by offering a variety of transportation options in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties.
Together, we provide over 500,000 rides and support more than 2,000 individuals with training and access to public transportation each year.
Portland, OR. After a four year search and evaluation of over 700 possible music professionals, the Oregon Symphony announced that Austrian-born conductor David Danzmayr will serve as its next Music Director.
Current Music Director, Carlos Kalmar will move into an advisory position with the organization after 17 years at the helm.
Because of the pandemic, symphony concerts have been canceled through June. But Scott Showalter, Oregon Symphony president, says the orchestra should be back in the fall. “We will reunite in-person with our community in Fall 2021, as we celebrate our 125th anniversary with adventurous new programming and exhilarating performances.”
Regarded as a gifted conductor, Oregon Symphony describes its new Music Director, David Danzmayr as, “a creative leader with a unique artistic vision, reflecting his desire to embrace wide-ranging cultures while inspiring and challenging audiences.”
According to the symphony’s announcement, Danzmayr has won prizes at some of the world ́s most prestigious conducting competitions, including at the International Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition and the International Malko Conducting Competition. He was also awarded the Bernhard Paumgartner Medal by the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum, and was a finalist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s First International Sir Georg Solti Conducting Competition, where he was judged by a panel including longtime Oregon Symphony Music Director James DePreist.
Danzmayr was strongly influenced by Pierre Boulez and Claudio Abbado in his time as conducting stipendiate of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and by Leif Segerstam during his additional studies at the Sibelius Academy. Subsequently, he gained significant experience as assistant to Oregon Symphony Music Director Laureate Carlos Kalmar, Neeme Järvi, Stéphane Denève, Sir Andrew Davies, and Pierre Boulez, who entrusted Danzmayr with the preparatory rehearsals for his own music.
the Oregon Symphony is the oldest orchestra in the western United States.
Here is a video about this new chapter in the life of the Oregon Symphony.
From Oregon Symphony:
The multi-Grammy Award-nominated Oregon Symphony ranks as one of America’s major orchestras. Led by Music Director Carlos Kalmar, it serves more than 235,000 people annually through live concerts and award-winning education and community engagement programs. The Oregon Symphony has broken attendance and fundraising records in recent years, while innovating on stage through new series such as SoundSights, Sounds of Home and SoundStories. Additionally, syndicated programming for broadcast reaches tens of millions of people throughout the world. As 2021/22 will mark its 125th anniversary, the Oregon Symphony is the oldest orchestra in the western United States. For more information, visit www.orsymphony.org.
Portland, OR. Three celebrity distillery owners are joining forces in a Superbowl ad to raise awareness for the nonprofit, Another Round, Another Rally. Aviation American Gin owner Ryan Reynolds, DeLeón Tequila Owner Sean Combs (P Diddy), and David Beckham of Haig Whisky are raising $1 million for the U.S. nonprofit which is a financial resource for the hospitality industry. Another Round, Another Rally provides reimbursement grants, educational scholarships, and emergency assistance.
The Super Bowl commercial pokes fun at the celebrities’ mixology skills and confirms their longing for the professionals. Here’s a look:
Attracting an average of 160 million fans each year, the Super Bowl is traditionally the biggest advertising event on the calendar. In the spot, Reynolds, Sean Combs (P Diddy) and David Beckham announce they are working on “an industry first” whereby they will combine all three of their spirits with the “natural ingredients from Tampa Bay and Kansas City for a cocktail everyone can agree on while watching the Big Game this weekend.”
They soon realize they are not mixologists, instead, they come together to support the bartending community.
Reynolds had already pledged a donation of $10k to the Canadian Professional Bartenders’ Association in March 2020 as the owner of Aviation Gin, and his brand added an additional 30% tip throughout April 2020 for every bottle ordered online and every home-delivered Aviation cocktail.
The international spirits distributor, Diageo, (whose portfolio includes Aviation American Gin, DeLeón Tequila, and Haig Club Whiskey) will be donating one million dollars to Another Round. It is also donating to Another Rally’s Bartender’s Benevolent Fund, and Drinks Trust UK to support the bartending community.
From Another Round Another Rally:
Another Round Another Rally is fiscally sponsored by JoyBus, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, and your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.
Portland, OR. The Portland Winter Light Festival is taking on an entirely new form this year to safely reflect our current pandemic reality. Instead of a large, centralized festival event, the 6th annual festival has modest pop-up light art installations throughout the city. It takes place over two weekends, February 5-6 & 12-13. Organizers say, “The expanded timeline and decentralized footprint will allow guests more space and time to view installations, minimize crowding, and allow for physical distancing while still celebrating light and art during the darkest time of the year. Installations are presented in windows, storefronts, and public spaces throughout the city.” Below are links to maps.
This year’s (non)Festival aims to continue building community by bringing art and technology to inclusive audiences during the pandemic.
There are Covid-19 safety guidelines: for a safer experience, it’s required that guests wear a mask at all times, observe social distancing, and follow all recommended protocols to protect themselves and others. Enjoy the art from six feet apart.
Organizers have collaborated with community members, artists, and businesses for 2021.
There are over FIFTY art installations (including Twinkle Trees, pictured above). It’s a free, all-ages, citywide experience. (Photo of Twinkle Trees by Brooke Hoyer. PDXWLF 2020)
From Willamette Light Brigade;
The Portland Winter Light Festival (a Willamette Light Brigade event), powered by PGE renewable energy, is a free, all-ages community-wide celebration illuminating the city’s public spaces with installations by premier light artists and designers. No tickets are needed for the festival. The Willamette Light Brigade is a Portland, OR-based nonprofit committed to connecting community and enriching the public realm by harnessing the power of artful lighting to transform the cityscape. We light bridges, produce a dynamic winter light festival, and advocate for the importance of night-time identity and place-making. The Willamette Light Brigade was founded in 1986 with a mission to enhance and beautify the city of Portland by lighting the bridges that span the Willamette River and therefore uniting the East and West sides of the city. Over the last two decades, the Willamette Light Brigade has successfully advocated for and facilitated the lighting of many of Portland’s iconic bridges, and continues to be part of long term planning for the bridges in the city of Portland.
Portland, OR. The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) is announcing that Options for Helping Residents of Ashland (OHRA) has been selected to receive the first Project Turnkey grant of $4.2 million in state funds to purchase and transform a Super 8 hotel into the new OHRA Center. “The opportunity to acquire a Project Turnkey facility is a game-changer for our work with homeless individuals and families, including those displaced by the September 2020 wildfire,” said Oregon State Representative Pam Marsh pictured above. The hotel will become a 50-person shelter.
Many have been working to help those displaced by wildfires with meals.
Last fall, the Oregon Legislature’s Emergency Board allocated $65 million in state funding to purchase financially distressed motels across the state to deliver safe shelter in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and wildfires. OCF is administering the funds and convening a statewide community advisory committee to select qualified applicants to ‘Project Turnkey.’
“Last year’s wildfires were devastating. Many survivors lost everything,” Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney said. “The Emergency Board stepped in with funding. That was just the first step. Now this project will give them a place to stay. I am happy to see Project Turnkey hard at work.”
Oregon Community Foundation OCF is managing and deploying grants in two waves: $30 million to fire-impacted communities and $35 million to communities throughout the state with an expressed need for safely-distanced shelter for people experiencing homelessness. Community-based organizations will apply for funding from OCF to acquire motels or hotels and operate the shelters. Long term, properties will convert to meet the future housing needs of the community, addressing the gap in transitional and affordable housing.
Oregon’s housing issues were already in crisis before the pandemic and wildfires hit.
OCF has been studying Oregon’s dual crises of homelessness and affordable housing, beginning with research commissioned from ECONorthwest, “Homelessness in Oregon” which provided a statewide analysis of a disproportionately large homeless population in Oregon.
NONPROFIT BENEFIT TICKET GIVEAWAYS!
Sign up for our free weekly highlights for the chance to win two tickets terrific nonprofit events! If you "like" us on facebook, or sign up for our weekly news highlights, you'll be entered to win! Sign up today!
Look for another ticket giveaway soon! Are you a nonprofit looking to bolster your publicity with facebook and tweets? Email us and we'll run a contest with tickets to your event! [email protected]
