Willamette Week's Give!Guide

Today’s Big Give Day is for the birds, in the very best of ways! Give $10 or more today and you could win a $500 gift card from Backyard Bird Shop. This is the first shopping spree BGD of the 2024 campaign — just in time for holiday shopping!. Remember: Every donation of $10 is a chance to win and there’s no limit. @giveguide has 250 amazing nonprofits to choose from; no need to wing it, just flock on over to giveguide.org and hatch your plan for winning Big Bird Day! ?? Backyard Bird Shop’s six metro area locations have everything you need to create a lovely garden space for your bird friends, plus whimsical garden art, mason bee supplies, and all kinds of gifts, accessories and nature-inspired goodies. They’ve got your lovable mischief-making squirrel buddies covered, too!

If you’re an American of ordinary standing, it may not be instinctual to consider education a privilege. The nonprofits in the Education category of Willamette Week’s Give!Guide are pivotal in reminding us that it is, in fact, one. ?????? Many of them are on the ground, battling an educational crisis of great magnitude. One where 61% of third graders in the state aren’t fully proficient in reading, and post-pandemic math performance is lagging. “Educational nonprofits across Clackamas, Washington, and Multnomah counties form the bedrock of community empowerment. From early literacy programs to hands-on skills classes, from support for immigrant youth to democracy preservation efforts, these diverse organizations recognize that education is the gateway to opportunity and personal growth,” Suzanne LaGrande, from Blosser Center for Dyslexia Resources, on behalf of the Education category. Nonprofit organizations in the Education category serve as buttresses, supporting the school system, addressing gaps in education, and providing critical learning services. Some provide support for students with specific learning challenges. Others uplift underrepresented groups and foster inclusive learning environments for special-needs youth. As a whole, they ensure students from all backgrounds receive the support they need to thrive! ?? Head to the link in our bio (AKA giveguide.org) to learn more about the nonprofits in this year's Education category, and be sure to throw a few dollars at ‘em while you’re there! ?? If you donate tomorrow, during our Big Give Day: Big Bird Day, you’ll be entered to win a $500 gift card to Backyard Bird Shop with every $10 donation. ??

Housing for all shouldn’t be contentious. And we don’t think you’ll find anyone who believes that more than the nonprofits in the Housing category of Willamette Week’s Give!Guide. Today, we’re spotlighting 16 local organizations working tirelessly to combat the impact of the housing crisis in our communities. Together, they provide a wide variety of supportive needs for neighbors struggling with housing costs and barriers. Whether that be providing a place to sleep, something to eat, or educational opportunities, each nonprofit is vital in what they do. ?? “From crisis response services like providing emergency shelter to helping people move back into permanent housing, from preventing homelessness before it starts to building more permanent housing, as well as repairing crumbling housing infrastructure and furnishing new homes, these organizations offer critical services to some of our most vulnerable communities,” Brandi Tuck from Path Home on behalf of the Home category Wherever you may lay your head at night, we hope you know that you are seen, valued, and loved. ??If you’re a neighbor looking for ways to give back and support your community, you can head over to the link in our bio—or straight to giveguide.org—to learn more about the nonprofits in this year’s Home category, and donate to their causes! ?

Splendid Cycles is back! ? Donate $10 or more today at giveguide.org and you’ll be entered to win a 2024 Orbea Kemen 40/Kemen 40 Mid from?@splendid_cycles?. ?? You’ll be taking the long way home with this e-bike: ? Shimano STEPS EP8 e-system, Shimano Deore gears and Shimano brakes for a smooth, safe ride. ? 540WH battery, which means it’s up to the task whether you need it for your work or school commute or to just zip around town. ? The Orbea Kemen retails for $3,599. ? Splendid Cycles' staff will custom-fit the lucky winner to the right size and style frame (Step-over or Mid) Remember: every donation of $10 is a chance to win and there are no limits! So cruise on over to the link in our bio and then kick those donations into high gear. ??

Willamette Week’s Give!Guide has always and will continue to focus on uplifting the nonprofits that are doing incredible work in the Portland metropolitan area. Today, we’re shining a spotlight on the 25 nonprofits that make up Give!Guide’s Community category. Nonprofits encompassed in this category focus on building, sustaining and honoring the culturally diverse communities of Portland. “So much of this year’s Community category is about access. Organizations providing access to bikes, to art, to books, and to healthy programs for families. Parks, youth football, roller derby! It’s about the historic effort to rebuild Lower Albina, restoring a neighborhood to residents that were displaced by Portland’s history of racist urban planning. And it’s about people-friendly streets and parks, neighbors working in coalition together, and boosting opportunities for the young people who will inherit this city,” Laura Moulton from Street Books on behalf of the Community category. ?? Check in with your communities. We’re not okay until we’re all okay! Once you’ve done that, head to giveguide.org to learn more about or donate to any of the nonprofits in this year’s Community category. We hope you’ll tune back in on Wednesday, Nov. 13 for our next Big Give Day: Big Bike Day. ??

Friends, we hope you’re taking care. ??Here at Willamette Week’s Give!Guide, we’re looking for good news wherever we can find it. So we’re taking today to introduce you to one of this year’s four Skidmore Prize winners. ?? Meet Anna-Liza Victory. She’s known for her warm smile, and her endeavors as a land justice advocate connecting tribes to their ancestral lands. ?? Victory is a member of the Cherokee Nation and is currently project manager at Coalition Of Oregon Land Trusts (COLT). For the past three years she has acted as a skilled liaison in COLT’s Oregon Land Justice Project. This includes helping to educate interested land trust holders and assisting Native organizations in getting the resources they need to purchase and preserve the land. “Her skills in interacting with people from a wide range of fields and walks of life have been invaluable to her efforts at COLT. Misconceptions about Oregon’s Native population and what they plan to do with any land returned to them remains an issue, requiring a little bit of hand-holding and education to gain a deeper understanding of what’s at stake.” Read Victory’s full Skidmore Prize interview at https://lnkd.in/gZuVywHt. ?? ??Profile by Robert Ham ?? by JP Bogan

Hey everybody. There’s a lot to process this morning. Do what you need to do to be ok today. Look out for each other and let others look out for you. Link arms, literally and figuratively. ?? Community and caring is the answer. ?? When you’re ready, we can help you make a difference locally. ?? Hundreds upon hundreds of nonprofits will continue doing the hard work you care about and upholding the values you share. Give!Guide has 250 that you can support today. ?????????? ???? ???????????????? ???????????? ???? ?? ?????????????? ???? ?????????????? ????????????? Donate $10 or more at giveguide.org (link in bio) for a chance to win Big Bend Day: A relaxing and restorative retreat courtesy of Wanderlust Tours and the nostalgic yet totally transformed Wall Street Suites. Choose your tour — lava caves, canoeing, kayaking, or snowshoeing — then put your feet up by the fire pit and listen to the soothing hush of the Deschutes River. Aaaah… ???????? ?????????? ?????????????? ????????????????: ??? A half-day tour for two from Wanderlust Tours, a local Bend tour operator committed to fun in the outdoors, sharing the natural and cultural history of Oregon, and protecting our beautiful corner of the world. Choose from their lava caves, canoeing, kayaking, or snowshoeing tours. ??? After your tour, head over to Wall Street Suites for a relaxing one-night stay a stone’s throw from the Deschutes River. Remember: every $10 donation is a chance to win! So hit up giveguide.org and check out the 250 dedicated and determined nonprofits that could use your support today.

It’s Give!Guide kickoff day! Oregon’s biggest community fundraising campaign is officially underway. Donate $10 or more today to a participating nonprofit and you’ll be entered to win two non-transferable P-level tickets to the Billie Eilish show on Dec 8 at Moda Center! This Big Give Day also includes a night’s stay at Jupiter NEXT Hotel after the show and a $100 gift card from Hey Love (Jupiter’s hotel bar/restaurant). It’s a starry-eyed, pinch-me type of Big Give Day! And remember: on Big Give Days every donation you make is a chance to win, and there’s no limit. That means if you donate $10 (or $20 or $100) to ten amazing nonprofits on a Big Give Day, that’s ten chances to win. Give!Guide has a big goal this year: $8.5 million between now and Dec 31! This year we’ve got 251 local nonprofits on board — you’re bound to find many of your favorites and discover new ones. Give early, give often, and together we’ll reach our goal. Thank you, community!

Boo! Keep your googly eye(s) on this space — it’s Give!Guide Kickoff Eve! Friday, November 1, is the first day of Give!Guide 2024, and we’re going big right out of the gate. Donate $10 or more tomorrow and you’ll be entered to win two tickets to the Billie Eilish show on Dec 8 at Moda Center. You read that right: Billie Eilish tickets are up for grabs! Tickets are nontransferable! This Big Give Day also includes a night’s stay at Jupiter NEXT Hotel after the show and a $100 gift card from Hey Love (Jupiter’s hotel bar/restaurant). And remember: on Big Give Days every donation you make is a chance to win, and there’s no limit. That means if you donate $10 (or $20 or $100) to ten amazing nonprofits on a Big Give Day, that’s ten chances to win. The Give!Guide site goes live at midnight tonight! All you generous night owls/Halloween candy-rush insomniacs can get a head start, and we’ll see everyone else bright and early tomorrow. Let’s do this, friends!

Well, well…look what we have here. ?? Each year, Willamette Week creates a special issue celebrating the beginning of the Give!Guide season. This year’s issue is fresh off the press, and available at blue box near you TODAY! ?? A huge, special thank you to Pacific Northwest College of Art Center for Design students for this year’s cover art. ?? Oh, and our lovely model, Emily Martin. ?? Grab your copy to learn about participating nonprofits, this year’s incentives for giving, our celebrated Skidmore Prize winners plus some. Oh, and be sure to come back on Nov. 1 at midnight to celebrate the official kick off with our first Big Give Day! Donate $10 or more on Friday to toss yourself int he running to win TWO P-1 level tickets to the?Billie Eilish concert at the Moda Center. ??