Discover the many projects, that include fun, free public events you can attend next summer, thanks to this grant program …
Bounce houses, like this one in Glenfair Park at a Neighborhood Night Out event, provide hours of fun for neighborhood kids. East Portland News archive photo
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
After poring through 28 applications to the 2013 East Portland Neighborhood Small Grant (EPNSG) program for nearly two weeks, members of the Grant Committee labored late into the night just before the Holiday season to select which projects would be awarded a portion of the program’s $30,000 allotment.
Thanks to the efforts of the East Portland Neighborhood Office staff over the summer, this year’s EPNSG application included a clear, 12-point list of criteria on which each application was judged.
In the end, eleven applications received funding for the 2013 grant cycle.
The Portland Police Bureau’s Officer Schmautz gets a warm response from volunteers with the American Pilipino Church at this event. East Portland News archive photo
To building community through education, Green Lents received a $3,300 grant for their Community Tool Library “Do It Yourself (DIY) Workshops” program. Chess for Success will continue their after-school program, this year, in the Parkrose School District, with help of a $1,568 grant.
Helping to provide fresh, local, and sustainable food is the goal of the “East Portland Neighborhood Gardens” program of gardening and education in the Rosewood area, provided by a $2,320 grant to the Outgrowing Hunger organization. And a $2,952 grant to begin and maintain the “Wisdom Community Garden” by Wisdom of the Elders will help the outer East Portland Native American community get back to their roots.
Neighbors gather in Parklane Park for an afternoon of fun and music – and an evening movie in the park. East Portland News archive photo
Three “National Night Out” parties obtained grants: National Night Out at Glenfair Park with $2,830; Powellhurst-Gilbert National Night Out received $3,500, and Parklane Neighborhood Fair and Movie in the Park obtained $1,930 in grant support.
A returning summer event supported by this grant program with $1,500 in funding is the “Movie & Community Fair at Gateway Park” – an effort of three adjoining neighborhoods.
Music will fill the air at community events during 2013, as it did last year – such as here, at the Powellhurst Gilbert Neighborhood Association’s National Night Out. East Portland News archive photo
New this year is “100 Years of Parkrose Music” to be produced by the Parkrose High Alumni Association. That project received a $3,500 grant; it promises an exciting day filled with music performed by many of the school’s graduates who went on to professional careers.
Finally, two Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative (NPI) districts applied for and received grants for their new programs: Look for the first-ever “Rosewood Bike Fair”, awarded $3,100 to help the Rosewood NPI produce their event – and the Midway-Division Alliance NPI received a $3,500 to help get their “Midway’s Day in May Fair, and Fun Run” launched.
When the sun goes down, neighbors enjoy a “Movie in the Park” event, funded in part by this EPNO grant program.
This program is administered by the East Portland Neighborhood Office, one of Portland’s seven district coalitions – which works to increase the livability of outer East Portland. It serves the neighborhood associations in Argay, Centennial, Glenfair, Hazelwood, Lents, Mill Park, Parkrose, Parkrose Heights, Pleasant Valley, Russell, Powellhurst-Gilbert, Wilkes, and Woodland Park.
To learn more, see the EPNO website at CLICK HERE to open their homepage.
© 2013 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News
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