Portland, OR. When the 2020 Friends of the Children “Friend Raiser” was forced to pivot because of the COVID-19 virus, it created a two-step plan. First, it offered mobile bidding and a silent auction in advance. Then on May 14th the nonprofit held a live-streamed program, live auction, and virtual paddle raise. In the end, Friends of the Children raised $1.5 Million with the virtual benefit.
The virtual auction was broadcast live.
Highlights included this shout-out from Mayor Wheeler below:
There was also a message from Russel Wilson and founders Cindy & Duncan Campbell. If you missed the live program you can check out the recording at friendraiserpdx.com.
From Friends of the Children:
Friends of the Children – Portland is the founding chapter of a nationwide organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of generational poverty through salaried, professional mentoring. For 25 years, Friends of the Children has used evidence-based strategies, long-term interventions, and nurturing relationships to serve youth facing the greatest societal challenges. For every $1 invested in program youth, $7 is returned to the community in savings within the public sector and contributions to the private sector, according to a Harvard Alumni Association of Oregon research. This year, Friends of the Children was named the number one Most-Admired Nonprofit in Oregon by the Portland Business Journal for the fourth time in six years.
Portland, OR. Portland Opera announced that the first two operas of the 2020/21 season, Robert Xavier Rodríguez’s Frida and Puccini’s Tosca, will be postponed. In a news release on May 15th, Portland Opera stated the following: In accordance with guidance from the office of Governor Kate Brown prohibiting large gatherings through September, and with the health and safety of our patrons and staff in mind, Portland Opera will reschedule these performances to take place in 2021. Dates will be announced at a future time. This postponement will include all main stage opera performances, as well as related events, and public programming.
“The health and well-being of our audience, staff, and community during this crisis remain our number one priority,” says General Director Sue Dixon. “We look forward to the day we can share Frida and Tosca with the Portland community, and in the meantime, we continue to strengthen our commitment to come out on the other side of this as a stronger organization.”
A scene from Portland Opera’s 2019 production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Photo by Cory Weaver/Portland Opera.
Current subscribers and members can contact our Patron Services team with any questions. They can be reached Monday – Friday, from 10 AM – 5 PM at 503-241-1802. Additional details can be found online by visiting PortlandOpera.org.
About Portland Opera:
Portland Opera exists to inspire, challenge, and uplift our audiences by creating productions of high artistic quality that celebrate the beauty and breadth of opera.
Since 1964, Portland Opera has contributed to the cultural, artistic, and economic landscape of the city and region that we love. We celebrate the beauty and breadth of the opera repertoire with performances that take place in the Keller Auditorium, Newmark Theatre, and the Gregory K. and Mary Chomenko Hinckley Studio Theatre at the Hampton Opera Center. The company is also a committed educational partner, touring fully staged operas to schools and community centers throughout Oregon and SW Washington region each year, in addition to a host of other efforts designed to make opera accessible for all.
Portland, OR. Rose Haven day shelter has already raised over $100,000 toward a fundraising goal for its annual mother’s day walk. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 fundraiser was made into a virtual event. Rose Haven is a day shelter and community center serving women, children, and gender non-conforming people who are experiencing trauma, poverty, and physical/mental health challenges.
Here’s a video about the event:
The Reigning Roses Walk has been Rose Haven’s signature event since 2014, bringing together its community of donors, volunteers, and guests each Mother’s Day to raise funds and awareness for its day shelter.
Here’s how you can participate:
Virtually Participate
Register to virtually walk with us at makeitreign.org
Make a personal donation
Customize your personal fundraising page
Share your custom link with friends and family via social media, text and email
Create a video clip or image showing off your walk…wherever you are; post to social media and tag Rose Haven
Watch your donations make a difference in our community
Community members are invited to walk with, or in honor of, a special woman in their life – a mother, grandmother, daughter, partner or friend. Participants collect pledges to participate; all proceeds benefit the women and children of Rose Haven.
About Rose Haven:
We are a sanctuary from the street, offering compassion, practical assistance & community to women, children, and gender diverse people facing the loss of home, abuse or other life disruptive experiences. Learn more at www.rosehaven.org
Rose Haven was designed using the results of a survey done in 1997 by Sr. Cathie Boerboom and Joan Van Almen, which asked the women of Old Town what they most needed and wanted. Sr. Cathie then joined forces with Stephanie Banka and began to build connections with other agencies and churches that met some of the needs of the women expressed. From here they built a program that complemented existing services, filled the voids and provided connectivity between resources and agencies. Soon, Rose Haven began responding to the critical need for safety for women. In 1998 Rose Haven began as a program of Catholic Charities where it quickly brought aid to more than 2,000 women and children in the Portland area each year.
In 2007 Rose Haven became an independent non-profit organization, relocated to NW Portland, and continued to provide direct services to homeless and abused women and children.
From the beginning Rose Haven has welcomed women off the street and with deep respect addressed each one’s expressed needs by offering life sustaining services and assistance in obtaining them. The staff and volunteers have a passionate commitment to the empowerment, integration and self-sufficiency of the women they serve.
Portland, OR. De La Salle North Catholic held its 15th Annual Changing Destinies Luncheon as a virtual event on April 23rd. The second-largest fundraising event for the school raises funds for its financial aid program, to ensure that no student is turned away because of an inability to pay. Currently, 92% of families receive funding to attend De La Salle North Catholic. Going virtual provided new fundraising opportunities for the school and raised $285,250.
Oscar Leong, President of the school, had a message for supporters from the halls of the school now closed because of the COVID-19 crisis.
From De La Salle North Catholic:
De La Salle North Catholic is the only high school in the Pacific Northwest to provide a college prep curriculum coupled with a unique work-study program for low-income students in Portland. Together with our 80+ corporate partners, we are empowering our students to change their destinies through a quality education.
Portland, OR. The Northwest Film Center and the Portland Art Museum present the virtual opening of Spaceship Earth, screening online starting Friday, May 8, for a one week run. Spaceship Earth premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and follows eight people who spent two years inside of a replica of Earth’s ecosystem called Biosphere 2.
About the film: Spaceship Earth is the true, stranger-than-fiction, adventure of eight visionaries who in 1991 spent two years quarantined inside of a self-engineered replica of Earth’s ecosystem called BIOSPHERE 2. The experiment was a worldwide phenomenon, chronicling daily existence in the face of life-threatening ecological disaster and growing criticism that it was nothing more than a cult. The bizarre story is both a cautionary tale and a hopeful lesson of how a small group of dreamers can potentially reimagine a new world.
Here’s information about the virtual opening of Spaceship Earth:
Your $3.99 ticket will directly support both NWFC and PAM and we encourage all of our members, staff, and supporters to join us—and spread the word.
At a time when most cinemas are expected to remain shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, our plan is to continue bringing new films to the PAM and NWFC audiences in new ways that allow us to follow social distancing rules.
We are proud to partner with NEON, the film production and distribution company that released Oscar winners such as Parasite and I, Tonya, on this innovative strategy to bring Spaceship Earth to our audiences during COVID-19.
We are happy to offer this film at an affordable price because of the economic hardship that Americans are facing during the pandemic.
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