Philanthropy
Fairgoers and Fair workers and the OCF organization alike contribute to non-profit groups through the Jill Heiman Vision Fund.
THE BILL WOOTEN OREGON COUNTRY ENDOWMENT FUND
In honor of one of our co-founders, The OCF has created The Bill Wooten Endowment Fund to assist arts, environmental, and social justice projects to flourish in our Fern Ridge area.
Here is a copy of the general Endowment Guidelines for 2012.
The new annual OCF Endowment Fund award recognizes former General Manager Leslie Scott's 17 years of leadership in advancing the spirit of the Oregon Country Fair. Her legacy involves providing opportunities for youth, reaching out to our neighbors, nurturing the creative spirit, working for peace and justice and creating community. The Applegate Art Center is the 2011 grantee that best represents Leslie's gifts. Funds will help provide summer art activities and literary and visual arts courses for Veneta youth. The project will engage both local and regional artists who provide a variety of art opportunities.
In 2011 the Endowment funded the following projects in addition to the Applegate Art Center:
- Culture Jam Camp for scholarships for West Lane County area teens to attend the eight-day arts based empowerment program.
- Elmira Elementary School - To support a program where students will participate in classroom sessions with a musician/artist to learn to play a song or two on the fiddle as well as increase their knowledge and appreciation of music.
- Veneta Elementary School - To support bringing an artist in residence into each K-8 classroom. The resulting artwork will be showcased ruing the Wings & Wine Festival in May. Funds will support a summer book camp for K-12 students in which an artist in residence helps students illustrate and a teacher leads a storyboarding/writing activity culminating in a printed book.
- Rural Art Center award will support projects focusing on birds and guitar lessons for high school students.
- Fern Ridge Library has been awarded funds to support Nearby Nature's visits to the children's area of Fern Ridge Library eight times of the next year to get local youth excited about exploring their nature nearby. They will lead the children in storytelling, mask making and other art projects.
These grants tangibly represent the Fair's deep appreciation of its home community and presents opportunities to further develop the Fair's relationship with its neighbors. Since the endowment fund was started 16 years ago, the Fair has awarded approximately $150,000 to youth-centered projects by nonprofits in the Fern Ridge area.
THE JILL HEIMAN VISION FUND
The Oregon Contry Fair honors the memory of Jill Heiman, an early Fair attorney, by granting funds to tax-exempt organizations in Lane County. Donations are provided by Fair volunteers, artists, staff, performers and guests. In 2012 we will once again fund projects and programs that provide basic need services. Please visit this site in February for a Request for Proposals.
In 2011 we funded the following projects and programs:
- Willamette Family will use the donation to provide basic health care for uninsured low-income clients. The money will pay for durable medical equipment and basic medical supplies for the Family Health Network, a new program created by Willamette Family with a United Way grant in October 2010. The FHN provides basic primary care to low-income clients who previously relied on emergency room visits for health care. In partnership with Centro Latinamericano, FHN also serves Spanish-speaking clients.
- Sponsors - Helps homeless ex-offenders re-enter the community. Grant money will be used to purchase bus passes and IDs for clients with the donated funds. Lack of transportation and identification poses significant barrers to people who have been released from prison. Meeting these key needs will help open the door to jobs and permanent housing, allowing ex-offenders a chance to become productive members of society.
- The Senior Meals Program- will use the donation to buy a walk-in freezer at its Central Kitchen, which serves 12 senior citizen dining centers and nine Meals on Wheels dispatch locations throughout Lane County. Communities seved include Oakridge, Cottage Grove, Creswell, Juntiton City, Florence, Veneta, Springfield and Eugene. The new freezer will replace a 16-year old freezer that is deteriorating.
- Pearl Buck Center will use the donation to provide emergency food boxes and rent and utility assistance to people with developmental disabilities and their at-risk children through its Preschool Outreach Program. The program offers specialized support to children born to parents with cognitive disabilities. These children face particular risk of neglect and "environmental retardation" due to their parents' special needs. The program combats this risk with preschool classes for the chidren, and mentoring and counseling programs for their parents, along with help with basic needs.
- Literacy Council of Eugene-Springfield will use this grant to recruit adult students who wish to learn to read and write, or who want to learn spoken English, and to recruit and train volunteer tutors for those students. When Lane Community College stopped offering instruction to beginning readers, the Literacy Council became the only agency in the county that helps adults learn to read - a skill that is crucial to most jobs.
Board of Directors Donations
The Board of Directors offers donations to various groups and activities that share our values of living artfully and authentically on the earth. The Board has donated money to such organizations as Islewilde Festival, Community Alliance of Lane County, Earth Day, Spiral Scouts, School Garden Project, Eugene Peace Choir, Network for Reproductive Health, Skipping Stones Magazine, the Lane Arts Council, and the Whiteaker Community Dinner among others. Donations typically range around $500. Non-profit groups seeking a donation should write to the OCF office at office@oregoncountryfair.org.
Click here to download the (.pdf) FAQ sheet and application for requesting a donation from OCF Board of Directors
