Portland, October 3, 2015. Incight and over 320 generous friends and supporters gathered at the Portland Art Museum to celebrate over 11 years of Incight leading the way for people with disabilities. The Benefit raised over $230,000 for the organization’s empowering suite of services. Amy Coe-Ingalls, Emily Wooton and Beth Horton were in the spirit of the event. The night was full of derby-themed surprises and the program kicked off with a recorded welcome from Ronnie Turcotte, rider of Secretariat, winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973. KGW’s Drew Carney was the 2015 Derby Gala MC, and spoke warmly about his passion for Incight’s mission to unlock the potential of people with disabilities.
West Livaudais and Courtney Smurdon
Rebecca Taylor and Michelle Heubner
Adriana Dameron and Danielle Friess
Scott Hatley on stage.
Johnna Wells and the room full of supporters.
The event featured games, silent auction gifts, a vacation package raffle, and an exciting live auction led by Johnna Wells, international auctioneer champion. Gala attendees came adorned with derby attire, and enjoyed Mint Juleps, Kentucky Lemonade cocktails, and a menu that was both delectable and fun. The excitement was amplified by the Swindells Charitable Trust who offered a match of contributions during the paddle raise portion of the evening.
Incight hit the highest mark to date in support raised from the event, which will go towards the organization’s adaptive recreation programs, scholarships for students, employment workshops and networking events for job seekers, high-level diversity and inclusion trainings for employers, and towards everything that Incight does in the community to bust stigma and pave the way for people with disabilities to lead a fulfilling life.
Incight was honored to have a number of amazing sponsors support this event, including presenting sponsor Safeway Foundation, platinum sponsors The Standard and Immix Law Group, and gold sponsor Aequitas Capital. Other supporting sponsors were Albina Community Bank, Pacific Power, Cambia Health Solutions, McKesson, FedEx, The Boeing Company, Keen Healthcare, the OSU Foundation, University of Portland, CareOregon, Mass Mutual, PAC MET, OHSU, Oregon Health Authority, Moore Excavation and Pacific Continental Bank. The community truly came together for this event, as Incight also received in kind support from Helioterra Winery, Pacific Pie Company, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Miles Nursery, LNS Captioning, B & B Print Source and many other local businesses.
From Incight:
Incight is a 501(c) 3 non-profit that supports and empowers key life aspects of education, employment, and independence.
More potential resides within the disability community than has been historically realized – and that much of that potential is unfairly locked up due to stigma, resulting in low expectation.
Incight offers three distinct programs that provide resources to help people who experience disability realize their potential and encourage the community at large to consider greater inclusion. We have created projects that do not reinvent the wheel of disability services, but support and embolden existing systems. Each program is built on the back bone of our anti-stigma approach.
We aim to create a culture of inclusion by leading an important conversation about disability in our community. Our vision includes workplaces free of stigma surrounding disability, support systems for students to access all necessary resources to successfully complete college, recreational opportunities for athletes of all abilities, and a safe forum for people who want to learn more.
Our services directly impact hundreds of students and jobseekers; thousands of athletes, families, educators, non-profits, and business professionals; and countless community partners, corporations, and schools.
OUR HISTORY
Founded in 2004, by Vail Horton, who is a congenital amputee, and Scott Hatley, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The name Incight comes from a hybrid of the word Incite – to spark a passion, and Insight – to possess intimate knowledge. This hybrid describes the founders original intention – to destroy the stigma that surrounds disability and fill in the gaps of other support services.
They found studies reporting that only 16% of people with disabilities earned college degrees and 76% were unemployed.
They observe, that since 1990 with the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, there are protected rights for people with disabilities and that accommodations and accessibility have increased 10x, the statistics for higher education and employment accomplishments have barely increased.
Significant obstacles remain for people with disabilities – and the largest of all is the stigma – or incorrect attitude and perspective. Lastly, they rightly recognize that this stigma is a two-way street. It occurs internally – within the disability demographic. It also occurs externally – as too much of society discounts those with disabilities.
Recruiting their college roommate, Jerry Carleton, to the cause – Incight was born. Jerry, Scott, and Vail built a team of staff, board members, and volunteers who are deeply committed to affecting real change in their communities.
Portland, December 6th, 2014. Levé returned to Leftbank Annex to host its annual Charity Ball. The event’s proceeds support Incight, an organization that strives to unlock the potential of people with disabilities. Members of “I Have A Dream” Young Leaders Collaborative at the event included: Lisa Hattery, Sophie Banner, Mairwen Eslinger, Ali Murphy, Melissa Gillett mingle at this year’s Charity Ball benefiting Incight.”
“Executive Director of Incight, Dan Friess, gets into the game with Sam Bridgman, 2014 Incight Hall of Fame inductee”
Dominique Dewese and Alando Simpson enjoying the 11th annual Charity Ball”
“Levé Board and Committee members pose at Leftbank Annex before the start of the 11th annual Charity Ball”
2014 marks Levé’s 11th year of raising funds to benefit and “lift” local non-profits in the Pacific Northwest. Incight’s unique approach to supporting the disability community, coupled with the celebration of their 10 year anniversary, made for an exciting collaboration between the two organizations.
Attendees enjoyed dancing, drinks, games, a silent auction and plenty of opportunities to contribute to Incight’s cause. Between Levé’s cash contributions, volunteerism and activism, they’ve infused more than $410,600 into the local nonprofit community. Levé is excited to increase that total as they finish off the year with Incight.
From Levé:
Let us back up a bit and tell you about who we are and where we came from. A group of girlfriends founded Levé out of a desire to actively make a difference in our local community. Portland has been our home for the majority of our lives, providing us with a deep connection and passion for keeping the Pacific Northwest’s most vital resources and programming vibrant and successful. For this reason, and the desire to bring together family, friends and the community for a celebration in support of a local nonprofit, Levé hosted its first Charity Ball in 2004.
After our first event, it became quickly apparent that we are in a unique position to catalyze support from a wider network. We feel fortunate to have enjoyed a supportive community in Portland and the consistent encouragement of family and friends in all of our endeavors. For that reason, we share the sentiment that it is our responsibility to give back to the community that has provided us with so much. As young girls, we watched our parents engage with and support the services of local nonprofits. Our action is modeled on their example.
Levé is a completely volunteer-run organization. Our board is made up of young, professional women who are sharing our time, resources and expertise with causes we value. We believe the work we do for Levé is not only making us better individuals and members of our community, but also better employees and students—mastering skills, building leadership and inspiring creativity.
Portland, October 6th. It felt a bit like Oscar night in Portland as Incight pulled out all the stops for a the star studded “Hooray for Hollywood” gala. At Pure Space in the Pearl District, long-time Incight supporters Charlie and Shawn Engelberg were dead ringers for Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The fundraiser supports the organization’s mission of empowering people with disabilities to become contributing members of society. More than 330 people attended the 6th annual benefit during which Incight raise more than $180,000, a 20% increase over last year.
Dan Heine, CEO of The Bank of Oswego, along with his wife Roberta are red-carpet ready.
At the center of it all, Vail Horton CEO of Keen Healthcare and Co-Founder of Incight visits with Charlie Hales and his wife, Nancy.
Keynote Speaker, John Register sharing his passionate message about “Hurdling Adversity”.
Dazzling guests with a show-stopping performance at the end of the evening was renowned Cher impersonator, Heidi Thompson, seen here with Incight Executive Director Dan Friess dressed as Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind.
The words of Yoda, “Do or do not, there is no try” served as the auction theme. Costumes included: Cher, Olivia Newton John, John Travolta, Doc Holiday, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable, and Christopher Reeve to name just a few. Sony Bono even made a cameo to cap a milestone evening for Incight.
Sponsored by Safeway and The Standard, the evening celebrated and shared Incight’s year of growth and program expansion successes with their sponsors and donors who make it all possible. All proceeds will support Incight’s education, employment, networking, and independence programs for people with disabilities. Incight believes that everyone can move beyond their boundaries.
Incight also welcomed John Register, a Desert Storm Veteran and Paralympic Athlete, to be the event’s keynote speaker and share his inspiring story of Hurdling Adversity. Incight Executive Director Dan Friess as Master of Ceremonies and Johnna Wells as Auctioneer maintained the energetic atmosphere for an incredible evening not soon to be forgotten.
“We were very humbled by the tremendous outpouring of generosity from those who attended the 2012 Hooray for Hollywood Gala,” said Incight Executive Director Dan Friess. “This event allows us to further address the critical need around improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.”
The Kresge Foundation matched donations up to $25,000 at the event. Kresge has been supporting Incight since 2010 with a grant to increase post-secondary education rates for people with disabilities.
About Incight: Incight was founded in 2004 by Vail Horton, CEO of Portland-based KEEN Healthcare Company, along with Scott Hatley, with the dream of changing two statistics: increase the 16% education attainment of Americans with disabilities and decrease the 76% unemployment rate. They collaborated on the creation of a program that would, ultimately, affect these statistics.
Incight’s mission is to cause the success of education, employment, networking, and independence for people with disabilities. Through all this, Incight’s main goal is achieved; empower people with disabilities to become contributing members of society. Since its inception, Incight has awarded 619 college scholarships, developed 25 scholarship match partnerships at area universities, created 132 jobs and internships, hosted 500 job seekers at employment events, distributed 6,000 college resource guidebooks, served 2,900 plus through Incight Events/trainings and in 2011 received the Spirit of Portland Award. For more information about Incight, visit www.incight .org.
Portland, OR. Giving Tuesday is coming up on November 30th. It was launched in 2012 as a way to get people to donate on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving when people are already opening their wallets for the kickoff of the holiday shopping season. Charities and businesses use the hashtag #GivingTuesday on social media to spread awareness and seek donations. Besides contributions, GivingTuesday is also a time to engage volunteers, receive in-kind donations, and thank current supporters.
In 2020, nearly $2.5 billion was donated in the U.S. on Giving Tuesday, according to estimates by campaign organizers.
Oregon Humane Society is one of the many nonprofits taking hoping to benefit from Giving Tuesday.
Nonprofits like Boy & Girls Club are still serving kids in our area.
Below is a list of Portland Area nonprofits hoping for a boost on Giving Tuesday. Click on the name of the nonprofit for a direct link to its website.
GivingTuesday is a growing global generosity movement that drives giving and collective action in communities around the world.
GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past nine years, this idea has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity year-round.
GivingTuesday inspires generosity worldwide through a distributed network of leaders. There are official GivingTuesday national movements in 80 countries, led by a global network of passionate, entrepreneurial leaders. At a grassroots level, people and organizations participate in GivingTuesday in every single country in the world.
GivingTuesday creates global impact driven by local action. In the U.S. alone, 300 community campaigns rally thousands of nonprofits, foundations, grassroots organizations, small businesses, and generous individuals to give back. Through #GivingTuesdaySpark, youth are leading change and inspiring action around the world.
GivingTuesday is driving a net increase in giving. The movement continues to grow in year-over-year donation volume, reach and impact – driving increased donations and behavior change. In 2020, at least $2.47 Billion were donated in twenty-four hours in the U.S. alone, with 13% of the adult population participating by offering gifts of time, voice, skills, goods, and money, as well as countless acts of kindness inspired by the movement.
GivingTuesday is a global hub for data, learning, and ultimately, innovation around generosity. The GivingTuesday Data Commons works with partners across sectors and borders to understand the drivers and impacts of generosity, explore giving behaviors and patterns, and use data to inspire more giving around the world. With over 100 contributing partners and 50 global data labs, the initiative is the largest philanthropic data collaboration ever built.
People are inspired to give on GivingTuesday. 84% of those aware report that GivingTuesday inspired them to be more giving. A 2019 Horizon Media study reported that 52% said that they want to donate on this day because it allows them to be a part of a bigger group of people doing good.
GivingTuesday inspires collective action and generosity all year round–and in times of crisis. $503M in online donations were contributed in the U.S. alone on May 5, 2020 during #GivingTuesdayNow a global day of giving and unity created as an emergency response to COVID-19.
People can show their generosity in a variety of ways during GivingTuesday. Whether it’s helping a neighbor, advocating for an issue, sharing a skill, or finding virtual volunteer opportunities with their favorite causes—everyone has something to give and every act of generosity counts.
Portland, OR. Giving Tuesday is November 27th. It’s celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. Whether it’s some of your time, a donation, gift or the power of your voice in your local community, now is the time!
Portland Children’s Museum serves kids and and families.
Here’s a list of links to the websites of Portland Area Nonprofits:
Have we missed your favorite? Let us know. You can also check out Charity Navigator. It’s America’s largest, independent charity evaluator. It publishes ratings for more than 9,000 of the nation’s most well-known organizations.
You can use its Discover feature to quickly find a highly-rated charity that aligns with your philanthropic interests. Charity Navigator encourage donors to consider charities that receive an overall score of 3- or 4-stars. These charities have proven their commitment to financial health and accountability and transparency.
Local charities like Meals on Wheels People have received the highest rating from Charity Navigator.
Oregon Food Bank volunteers packed more than 100,000 pounds of food for the Martin Luther King Jr. day of service.
#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.
One of the best ways to get involved is in your own community. #GivingTuesday also created a directory to help you find organizations, charities, events and more in your own community.
This November 27th, join the movement and give. It’s a simple idea. Whether you come together with your family, your community, your company or your organization, find a way to give back.
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