Portland, OR. The Portland Winter Light Festival (PDXWLF) is hosting a raffle to win a one-of-a-kind wood-burning fire pit designed by local artist and PDXWLF alum, David Bertman. Organizers say, “As we collectively turn inward and begin spending more time at home and around the hearth, it has become clear that we are all looking for more ways to make our homes cozier and more welcoming.”
The fire pit is described as a functional piece of art.
The wood-burning fire pit is made of 14 gauge steel, has a diameter of 24″, and is valued at $585. Tickets are on sale until Sunday, November 29 at https://www.pdxwlf.com/fire-raffle. Each ticket is $100 and only 99 will be sold.
Money raised from the sale of tickets will go directly to offsetting pandemic-related income losses at the Portland Winter Light Festival. It’s an event organized by the nonprofit Willamette Light Brigade which is the organization that illuminates Portland’s bridges. Currently, the annual festival has been put on hold for 2021. Organizers explain, “We are thinking deeply about how to maintain our organization’s core values during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our team is currently working on activities for 2021 that safely celebrate the entire community.” So stay tuned for more information on the festival in the months to come.
The 5th annual Portland Winter Light Festival took place on February 6th – 8th, 2020. It showcased nearly 100 illuminated art installations, over 70 performances and live events, educational programs, and kinetic fire sculptures throughout the city. It drew over 200,000 guests. Here’s a video about the 2020 festival:
Below are some photos from past celebrations.
The annual festival is billed as a free, all ages, community-wide festival & celebration illuminating the city’s public spaces with installations by premier light artists and designers.
Portland Light Festival 2018. Photo by MGV photography.
Portland Light Festival 2018. Photo by Brooke Hoyer.
Clicking the donate button will take you to a secure online giving platform.: DONATE
As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, our success is completely dependent on the generous support of our community. Your donation is tax-deductible and helps ensure that the festival will continue to thrill and inspire.
The Portland Winter Light Festival is free for everyone to attend directly because of donations from attendees like you. The mission of the Portland Winter Light Festival is to build community by bringing light art and technology to inclusive audiences while invigorating Portland in the winter. Your donations help to support our mission.
If you’d like to donate by check, please make your check out to “WLB Portland Winter Light Festival”
Mail to: PDXWLF c/o Willamette Light Brigade
PO Box 14157 Portland, Oregon 97293
The PDXWLF is a proud activity of the Willamette Light Brigade. Your individual donation is tax-deductible as the Willamette Light Brigade is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
Portland, OR. Over 104 tuned in for the De La Salle North Catholic (DLSNC) Fall Virtual Benefit Dinner and Auction on October 29th. The event raised $408,505 for the innovative high school on N. Fenwick Avenue in Portland. MC James Broadous II, DLSNC Vice Principal for Student Life and auctioneer Dale Johannes are seen above.
Board member Cyndy Maletis kicks off the night with a welcome message.
And Ashleigh de Villiers, Vice President for Advancement, and James Broadous II celebrate the evening’s success.
Sandra Padilla Cervantes ’22 helped provide entertainment Monce Baltier Moreno ’20 for introduced a video of Nik Tucker ’14, who shares his story of becoming an architect and Max Pettit ’21 and DLSNC President Oscar Leong for his glimpse of our the new campus at St. Charles Parish.
Here’s a video about DiOnica Curry ’11 who shared her journey of overcoming dyslexia.
OnPoint Community Credit Union was presented with the 2020 Cassin Award for Commitment to Mission. Cliff Dias, Rob Stuart, Jim Armstrong, and Jackie Dunckley were thanked for their leadership in supporting De Le Salle North Catholic.
And we still have four half cases (6 bottles) of 2018 Brother Timothy Chardonnay remaining. To buy yours, click here.
If you missed the Live Show, want to watch it again, or share it with friends, please click the button below.
Our mission is to provide an affordable, college preparatory, faith-based education to young men and women throughout the Portland metro area with limited financial resources. Over 325 years ago, St. John Baptist de La Salle, the founder of the De La Salle Christian Brothers and their schools, established the practice of providing a Christian education to the young, especially those who are most on the margins of society. Today, along with the support and sponsorship of the De La Salle Christian Brothers (San Francisco New Orleans District), De La Salle North Catholic strives to continue this mission.
Since the school was founded in 2001, our school has continued to grow and develop into a community of dedicated teachers and staff who, along with our many corporate work-study partners and volunteers, provide our unique education to capable, motivated and interested young people.
Portland, OR. For the past 35 years, Literary Arts has built a community around literature, books, and storytelling. A yearly highlight was the Portland Book Festival, pictured above. This year due to COVID-19 the nonprofit is moving its annual Portland Book Festival online where people can attend for free.
Up until this year, Portland Book Festival was a one-day event that drew about 9,000 attendees. Now participants will have access to the event over the course of two weeks from Nov. 5 to Nov. 21. There will be more than 100 authors, writing classes, and book events of all genres for kids, teens, and adults to explore.
The festival will also feature an exhibitor fair and writing classes for adults/youth that will be accessible online. Pop-up readings have also been filmed at the Portland Art Museum and are being offered digitally as well.
Holman Wang, a writer of children’s books, sits with a fan from the 2019 Portland Book Festival.
Festival Director, Amanda Bullock speaks on the Portland Book Festival going virtual, “The festival strives to offer something for every kind of reader and offers a diverse lineup of authors from exciting new voices to literary superstars. I really hope that the virtual festival throws the doors open even wider and that more folks get a chance to be a part of the festival.”
According to Andrew Proctor, Executive Director of Literary Arts, before going virtual there would be roughly 200-300 volunteers to help with the festival; however, the new digital format this year is not conducive to volunteer opportunities.
Although the Portland Book Festival is different this year, according to Bullock, she hopes the event will be a chance to discover parts of the festival they otherwise might not have before.
Attendees walk around the 2019 Portland Book Festival looking at the different vendors.
Volunteer opportunities may not be available for the 2020 Portland Book Festival, but there are other volunteer positions available on the Literary Arts website. One virtual opportunity is to become a college essay mentor to junior and senior high school students where a majority are first-generation applicants to college. Check out more about the volunteer opportunities here.
Portland, OR. Legacy Mount Hood is expanding its cardiology services, including the construction of two cardiac catheterization suites for emergency care. To complement these new services, Mount Hood Medical Center Foundation has begun a three-year, $600,000 campaign to fund the expansion of the cardiac education and rehabilitation programs.
The “Denim & Diamonds Online Auction” raised $45k for the Cardiac program at its annual auction.
This year’s event included a raffle, auction and paddle-raise, all held online. Bidding concluded in early September.
“We are so fortunate to have such generous donors, especially in difficult times like these,” said J. Michael Schultz, executive director of Mount Hood Medical Center Foundation. “Their commitment to our mission is inspiring.”
Money from the Denim & Diamonds auction will support community education, nutrition counseling, new exercise equipment, and financial aid for patients with limited resources.
From Legacy Health:
Mount Hood Medical Center Foundation raises funds for Legacy Mount Hood, East Multnomah County’s full-service community hospital. Legacy Mount Hood is part of Legacy Health – a nonprofit health system is driven by a mission to improve the health of those around us.
To learn more about supporting Mount Hood Medical Center Foundation, please visit www.legacyhealth.org/giving
Portland, OR. Portland Opera announced its plans for the remainder of the 2020/21 season. The Opera’s pivot will feature a series of virtual recitals from the company’s artistic home in Southeast Portland, an outdoor opera experience, and productions broadcast via the company’s new digital channel, Portland Opera Onscreen. Robert Xavier Rodríguez’s opera Frida will be the first broadcast in March of 2021. The Onscreen production of Verdi’s Il Trovatore (seen above) will follow. It will be a semi-staged concert, focusing on the music, performed in a landscape of video projections. Il Trovatore has been dubbed, “a tour de force” and tells the story of a mother, burned at the stake as a witch.
The plan for these digital performances is to have a suggested access fee of $50 and patrons will have digital access for 45 days.
“The global pandemic has challenged us: to be problem-solvers, to adapt to new technologies, and to deepen the ways that serve the community,” says General Director Sue Dixon. “Our newly reimagined 20/21 season celebrates the resiliency of the creative spirit with live music and local collaborations—while prioritizing health and wellness for our audiences, artists, and company.”
Here are some of the opera’s options:
20/21 Resident Artist Series
January – February, 2021 | Select Thursdays at 7 PM
Streaming online for free; this recital series features Resident Artists sharing solo pieces, duets, and ensemble works
FRIDA (onscreen)/Robert Xavier Rodríguez
Digital access will be available for 45 days, starting on March 20, 2021 on the digital channel, PortlandOpera Onscreen.
Photos courtesy of Long Beach Opera, by Keith Polakoff.
Photos courtesy of Long Beach Opera, by Keith Polakoff.
JOURNEYS TO JUSTICE/Curated by Artistic Advisor Damien Geter
Digital access will be available for 45 days, starting on April 16, 2021 on the digital channel, Portland Opera Onscreen. These compositions are about love, justice, and experiences of being a Black American.
From Portland Opera:
Multnomah County, where Portland Opera is headquartered, entered Phase I reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic on June 19th, and remains in Phase I—along with neighboring Washington and Clackamas counties—until public health indicators permit progression to Phase II. Public performances with audiences are permitted only in the final phases of the state’s reopening plan.As part of the company’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of the staff, artists, ensemble, and audience members, Portland Opera has engaged a team of medical advisors to review all safety procedures and protocols, ensuring the company is in line with the best and current medical advice on an ongoing basis. To learn more about Portland Opera’s comprehensive response to the global pandemic, visit portlandopera.org.
Currently being developed in tandem with a new website and ticketing platform, the Portland Opera Onscreen channel will launch in February 2021. Until that time, digital content and performances will be available on PortlandOpera’s Vimeo and YouTube channels. The company plans to sustain the digital channel for future seasons as an option for patrons, and is developing these new digital offerings based on patron feedback from recent surveys, strategic planning input, and Town Hall meetings. Tickets for special outdoor performances, as well as digital passes for these productions, will be available beginning in February of 2021.
The company continues with plans to offer an adjusted Portland Opera To Go program, which is Portland Opera’s statewide, school-based arts education tour for K-12 students. Due to the pandemic, this program is shifting to connect with regional schools in a new digital format, starting in January 2021. The company is following state health guidelines and school district mandates in carrying out this program. Opera staff members are working with educators to adjust the program to meet unique digital needs, and to develop supportive relationships during these challenging times.
As a result of this reimagined season, three originally announced productions of Puccini’s Tosca, the Big Night concert, and a double bill of Frid’s The Diary of Anne Frank and Heggie’s For a Look or A Touch will no longer be programmed this season. A message announced this news to 2020/21 season subscribers and members yesterday. Ticket holders are encouraged to email [email protected] in order to share their preferences for refunds and donated tickets, and opera staff members will be reaching out to everyone in the next couple of weeks. Portland Opera continues to work with artists, musicians, and creative teams to navigate these changes and develop the 21-22 season—which will be announced in early 2021.
Portland, OR. “Art, music, dance, literature are crucial to our lives and to our very survival. It’s the soul of a nation. It’s the way that we come to know the world around us and ourselves.” That’s the message from Carrie Mae Weems, an acclaimed artist who was just elected Trustee of the Portland Art Museum.
Carrie Mae Weems and Marie Watt are new Trustees at the Portland Art Museum.
Portland Art Museum is working to offer access to more of the Museum’s galleries while still observing COVID guidelines, therefore some galleries are open on a rotating basis. This rotation will allow visitors access to the 4th Floor of the Hoffman Wing for the first time since the museum reopened, including APEX: Ed Bereal and other Northwest Art favorites.
One current exhibit is “Volcano! Mount St. Helens in Art.”
Other offerings at the museum include Día de Muertos Outdoor Projection, November 1, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. (No tickets needed). To cap off this year’s reimagined Día de Muertos celebrations in Portland, visitors are invited to view a 4-minute animated projection on the south side of the Mark Building created by artist Anabel Uyana with sound by Gerardo Calderon and projection technology by Mobile Projection Unit.
The museum is open Thursday – Sunday from 10 – 5. You can reserve a timed-entry ticket online in advance; most galleries are open. Regular admission is $20 adults, $17 students/seniors, kids always free.
From Portland Art Museum:
In the interest of personal safety and community health, visitors and staff are required to adhere to safety precautions while in the Museum. For visitors, these include properly wearing face coverings for the duration of your visit, maintaining 6 feet of distance with other parties, and purchasing your timed-entry ticket in advance, among other things. Please read more about how to have a safe and enjoyable visit at our Welcome Back page.
Portland, OR. An annual fundraiser called “Impact Oregon’s Future” raised a record $270,000 for the Children’s Institute. Marta and Ken Thasher (above) celebrated Ken receiving the Children’s Institute’s 2020 Alexander Award for his long-standing passion is to make a difference for children and families in Oregon.
The virtual event, held on October 20th, was emceed by CI’s Senior Early Education Advisor Soobin Oh. It highlighted the nonprofit’s work across Oregon to increase access to critical early childhood programs including preschool, home visiting, child care, and many other services. The virtual benefit included recorded messages from VIP supporters.
Jordan Schnitzer toasts Ken Thrasher on receiving the 2020 Alexander Award.
Governor Kate Brown congratulates Ken Thrasher on receiving the 2020 Alexander Award.
Cindy and Duncan Campbell stepped up as presenting sponsors for the 2020 Impact Oregon’s Future event. Duncan founded Children’s Institute over 16 years ago and served on the board for many years.
Children’s Institute CEO and President Swati Adarkar reflects on the nonprofit’s achievements.
Swati Adarkar commented, “It’s really incredible to witness the growth of the movement to support Oregon’s children. Strategic investment in our youngest Oregonians is a sure way to impact our state now and into the future. We’re pleased and grateful that so many people, parents, leaders, and community partners see the value of the work we do and have donated critical resources to fuel our work forward.” Swati Adarkar explained why the nonprofit is grateful. “Every dollar helps us continue the work we’ve been doing for more than sixteen years, connecting young children across Oregon to vital programs and services that support their healthy development and early school success.” The Children’s Institute honored Ken Thrasher with the Alexander Award at the event.
The award was named for Richard C. “Dick” Alexander, one of Oregon’s foremost business and civic leaders, who was committed to improving the lives of Oregon children with a focus on early childhood.
“Ken truly embodies the spirit of the Alexander Award,” Adarkar said. “His commitment to children and families has been exemplary and he has had an extraordinary imprint on advancing Oregon’s early childhood agenda. Ken’s deep, long-standing passion is to make a big difference for children and families in Oregon, and he has. I was thrilled to celebrate him.”
Others who added their gratitude and thanks for Ken’s service and commitment to Oregon’s children during the event included Governor Kate Brown; Martha Richards, Executive Director of the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation; philanthropist Jordan Schnitzer; and Beaverton School District Superintendent Don Grotting.
From Children’s Institute:
Founded in 2003 by a group of business and philanthropic leaders, the Children’s Institute brings Oregonians together to support the early learning and healthy development of young children, prenatal to eight years old.
We believe in starting early because investments in young children’s education, health, and safety are proven to improve lifetime outcomes for children who experience barriers to opportunity due to poverty, race, disability, and/or geographic location.
Through advocacy, research, policy, and practice, Children’s Institute works to ensure that young children have the programs and services they need to nurture their love of learning and prepare them for success in school and beyond.
Join us to make sure every child in Oregon has the best start in life.
Portland, OR. Write Around Portland virtually hosted its annual event Raise Your Pen, on October 8th. The event was emceed by Slam Poet and Write Around Portland board member Marisol Tawadros and personal work was shared by five Write Around Portland writers. Through the event, Write Around Portland was able to raise over $45,000 which is earmarked for the nonprofit’s work in the community. The night was spent writing and acknowledging the importance and the power of writing.
During the pandemic, Write Around Portland has transitioned all of its workshops, programming, and operations to be done remotely. Among the services that the organization offers is a bi-weekly online writing workshop and a bi-monthly BIPOC online writing workshop specifically for people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. The organization is also partnering with agencies to offer mail-based and remote writing workshops for people who are experiencing isolation and barriers to accessing services.
From Elizebett Eslinger, the Executive Director of Write Around Portland:
“Writing is essential. With a public health crisis and systemic racial inequities especially exposed, the need for writing and connection takes on a new fullness. At Write Around Portland, we are amplifying the stories and voices we need to hear, caring for our community, and continuing our work to build a more respectful and just world through the power of writing.
We continue our racial equity and anti-racist work, including expanding our own learning; challenging and working to dismantle inequitable structures within our organization and the broader sector; and sharing ways our Write Around community can get involved with the Movement for Black Lives, engage in anti-racist learning and work, and support BIPOC-led organizations.”
Write Around Portland has taken this time to implement remote adaptations for a safe community in the organization. The changes of this year have given the space to encourage the staff to take more time off while they work on contingency plans for returning to in-person when it is safe and responsible to do so.
We hold free writing workshops for adults and youth in hospitals, schools, treatment centers, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, low-income housing residences and other social service agencies. To ensure everyone has access to writing in community, we provide journals, pens, bus tickets, childcare and snacks for participants in these workshops.
Portland, OR. The Pittock Mansion is open for visitors and volunteers are planning for the annual Christmas celebration. It will feature, “The wonderful world of animals” with this year’s theme Critters Make Merry. From reindeer and polar bears to lions and mice and a few in between, volunteer decorators transform the Mansion’s rooms into enchanting animal havens.
Tickets for this year’s event are limited due to capacity restrictions. All tickets must be purchased online in advance by selecting a date and start time. The first timed entry begins at 10am with last timed entry starting at 3:30pm.
Certain permanent exhibit features will not be viewable so that the Mansion can highlight decorations along the one-way viewing path.
Face coverings are required when indoors and when around other guests or staff unless an accommodation for people with disabilities or other exemption applies. Face coverings are recommended but not required for visitors between the ages of 2 and 5.
Tickets are timed and must be purchased online. Please purchase before arriving. All transactions—both tickets and Museum Store—are credit card only. No cash. Exchange requests will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
Members can reserve a time and check in with guests online using their Member ID number.
Entry and exit into the Mansion will be one-way and individual groups/parties will have a staggered entry from other individual groups/parties.
The maximum group size is limited to 10 people. Please note: there might be a short wait outside the Mansion before entry.
Six-feet distancing will be enforced in lines and within the Mansion and Museum Store.
Follow all capacity and one-way directional instructions throughout the Mansion and the Museum Store as stated by staff and signage.
Hand sanitizer will be available at main entrance and exit of the Mansion and Museum Store. Restrooms are also available inside the Mansion. We ask all visitors to follow CDC and Oregon Health Authority guidelines regarding handwashing and hand sanitizing.
Please refrain from touching surfaces and objects inside the Mansion and Museum Store (unless purchasing). Entry and exit from the Mansion and the Museum Store will be touchless.
There will be no access to drinking fountains within the museum.
The elevator will be available for visitors with mobility issues but will be limited to two people per group. Visitors must be comfortable being in the elevator on their own. The elevator will be controlled by staff from the hallways on each floor. Other restrictions may apply.
Avoid visiting if you are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19, have been exposed to someone who has tested positive within 14 days, or have traveled to areas with known travel restrictions within the last 14 days.
Portland, OR. Laasya Yenduri, a senior at Sunset High School and president of the nonprofit CyberBORN, has remained positive during COVID-19 by creating a mask initiative and offering virtual classes for young people as seen pictured above.
The organization was originally created as a high school club, but Yenduri found inspiration to take the club to the next level during a trip to India three years ago.
CyberBORN, is a student-led nonprofit, with its primary focus on fulfilling the academic dreams of less fortunate children around the globe. Students strive to improve the lifestyles of hundreds of children by fundraising to provide technology to impoverished children. They’re also raising awareness throughout communities, and opening up digital mentorship classrooms worldwide.
CyberBORN’s worldwide efforts became local, however, after COVID-19 hit back in March. Yenduri shares how online tutoring began. “I realized a lot of students since we had multiple events planned, but were canceled, especially younger students were really bored at home. They didn’t really have anything to do in school since they weren’t there. So that’s why I decided to start an initiative where we start tutoring kids for free.”
In one of the virtual classes, students learn how to make slime.
From these virtual classes, the hand-made mask initiative was born. CyberBORN, had goals to create and distribute 200 masks by April and 1,000 masks by August. Currently, they have donated 1,570 masks that were made from the students in these virtual workshops.
According to Yenduri, the thought process behind the mask initiative was finding a way to pay their respects to healthcare workers, but also realizing that older patients, were at a very high risk of contracting COVID-19. Efforts were focused on providing a platform where they could not only help one population but all sorts of people.
Yenduri explains, “This was actually a perfect way for us to stay connected and stay close to our nonprofit roots while also doing something beneficial for the community.”
Tutoring kids for free has seen a large growth in attendance since it began. The sessions started off being one hour every weekday. Usually, 10-12 students would join in. By the end of August, however, the organization had over 55 students joining every day with a growth of 500% since the initiative started, according to Yenduri.
Over the summer CyberBORN has held about 160 classes that varied in topics ranging from science to art, to graphic design and other general topics.
Members from CyberBORN distribute their first round of masks from the handmade mask initiative.
Looking towards the future, CyberBORN plans on hosting several other events. One of these events will be a virtual fundraising concert where kids can perform their musical talents such as singing, playing the piano, or playing other instruments that they haven’t been able to perform due to COVID-19. This encourages individuals to start practicing again and get back to the groove of whatever talent they possess.
Yenduri speaks about creating free virtual lessons. “This is the one part of my day that I really look forward to doing so it’s really great we’re still continuing our virtual lessons even during the school year but instead of doing like five times a week we’re doing three times a week so it’s good to see all the faces again and to see the students’ progress.”
CyberBORN is always looking for new volunteers and if interested, you can contact the nonprofit through this contact form online. The organization is also looking into opening up other high school chapters as well as always welcoming new students in their free virtual workshops.
From CyberBORN website: To improve education standards for hundreds of children worldwide by raising awareness throughout communities, fundraising to provide means of technology to impoverished children (currently donating to Indian girls), opening up digital mentorship classrooms worldwide, offering feminine hygiene products to low-income families and homeless shelters, and providing a means of removing the stigma around mental health.
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