2026 GRANT AWARDS
Helping Local Nonprofits Thrive!Camas-Washougal Community Chest, along with C-W Rotary Foundation and Camas Lions Foundation
Announce 2026 Grant Awards
The Camas-Washougal Community Chest and its partners, the Camas-Washougal Rotary Foundation and the Camas Lions Foundation, are pleased to announce the award of 37 grants totaling $140,760 to nonprofit organizations delivering programs and services, exclusively, to children and families in Camas and Washougal. The grants will fund such diverse services as emergency food assistance, aid to families in crisis or needing emergency services, safe temporary shelter for at-risk youth, a Safe Stay overnight car park program, replacement of a footbridge at Camp Currie, and outdoor lessons and learning programs for local youth.
Since 1946, the Community Chest has been all about local people helping local people. Some of the nonprofit organizations being funded in 2026 include the Inter-Faith Treasure House, Akin at the East County Family Resource Center, Janus Youth Programs, Meals on Wheels People, Pink Lemonade Project, Washougal Ivy League, The Little Wings Library, and Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership. For a complete listing of the 2026 grant awards, scroll down!
Thanks to the CWRF, CLF, and major donations from the GP Foundation, GP employees, Camas School District employees, City of Camas and City of Washougal employees, Port of Camas-Washougal employees, Columbia Manufacturing & Technology Center, TIdland Christian Development Fund, Standard Insurance, Beaches Yghf, The Stewart Title Foundation, Your Party & Event Center & Columbia Rock Products, Waste Connections, Windermere Foundation, and Watercare Industrial Services, CWCC is well on the way to funding these grants. To reach its 2027 fundraising goal, however, the CWCC needs additional donations from individuals and businesses in Camas and Washougal. If you have questions or would like to learn how you can be involved, contact us at info@camaswashougalcommunitychest.org. The C-W Community Chest is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization for federal charitable tax deduction purposes.
2026 Grant Program Summary
Total number of grants awarded – 37 grants to 37 organizations
Total value of grants awarded – $140,760
Estimated number of individuals served by grants – more than 70,000
Community Programs/Projects Funded in 2026
Inter-Faith Treasure House
Grant funds will cover half of the annual utility bills for heating and cooling the warehouse and thrift store, running the coolers and freezers, and providing electricity and water.
Akin (at East County Family Resource Center)
Grant funds will support operations at the East County Family Resource Center in Washougal. Funding also supports parent education groups, youth support groups, emergency basic assistance, and behavioral and physical health care services provided by ECFRC or by a partner agency. The center also supplies emergency food, diapers, and hygiene items, including a weekend food backpack program.
Meals on Wheels People
The grant will support MOWP’s Senior Nutrition Program, which ensures every older adult has access to nutrition in their neighborhood. The program also offers social support through friendly conversations during meal delivery. Enrichment activities are also available at its dining centers to help alleviate social isolation among older adults in the area.
Janus Youth Programs
Janus Youth Program operates SW Washington’s only crisis shelter for homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth ages 9 to 17. The grant will support outreach and overnight facility stays for Camas and Washougal runaway youth at risk of abuse and neglect. The program reconnects youth with safe housing. Case managers also help youth access community services and achieve stability.
Washougal School District – Principals’ Checkbook
Grant funds will help Washougal School District principals meet basic needs so that low-income or homeless students have equal opportunities at school. The grant also funds a portion of an Adult Transition Program, which trains students with disabilities to move into appropriate work placements. It will provide supplies such as shoes, clothes, hygiene products, and food for Panther Den. It will also fund a mobile laptop cart for families without access to technology and internet services.
Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership
Funds will support the Students Outdoor Science program, which provides classroom lessons and outdoor applied learning for youth, including habitat enhancement projects adjacent to Gibbons Creek in the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Campen Creek in Mable Kerr Park, and Lacamas Creek Trail and Park.
Friends of the Columbia Gorge
This grant supports the Friend’s “Explore the Gorge” program, which exposes sixth graders from the Washougal School District to the wonders of the Columbia Gorge, its significance as a national treasure, and the unique story of its preservation through the Columbia River National Scenic Area Act. This two-day outdoor education program includes lessons in geology, ecology, and habitat restoration, as well as an interpretive hike and scavenger hunt.
Lacamas Watershed Council
The grant funds will pay for volunteer training and for water quality monitoring equipment and testing supplies. Water quality samples will be collected in the Lacamas watershed, including Lacamas, Round and Fallen Leaf lakes and Lacamas Creek.
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Washougal Ivy League
Grant funds will be used to purchase tools to clear Washougal Parks and other Washougal public spaces of invasive species such as English Ivy, Himalayan blackberries, and English Holly. Other expenses that would be covered by the grant would be liability insurance for project managers and volunteers, and domain hosting and website support services.
St. Anne’s (Episcopal Church) Safe Stay Program
St. Anne’s has developed a Safe Stay program that allows homeless families to sleep overnight in their vehicles in the church’s parking lot. The grant funds will help cover operating expenses for the program, including portable toilet cleaning and use of outdoor electrical outlets, Wi-Fi, showers, laundry, and the church kitchen. Funds will also pay for gas, food, and emergency services as needed.
Camas School District – Camas Family Community Resource Center
This grant will help students and families facing situational instability meet essential needs, particularly those that directly further a student’s education or physical and emotional well-being. Requests most often come directly from school counselors, which also eases their concerns when students need additional support to learn their best.
ReFuel Washougal
Funds will be used to provide lunch to students from low-income families during the summer break when in the Washougal School District lunch programs are not operating. ReFuel services are delivered completely by valued community volunteers.
Family Promise of Clark County
Grant funds will support Family Promise’s Cares Prevention Program, which proactively helps families with services that prevent them from losing their homes and entering the shelter system. Services may include rental assistance, back-rent payments, security deposits, landlord mediation, housing searches, and help with applications.
Kiwanis Camp Wa-Ri-Ki
Funds will support the camp’s Outdoor Environmental Education Program, which offers campers meaningful outdoor activities that promote fun, healthy living, personal growth, leadership, and nature-based skills. Goals include better physical and mental health, increased self-esteem, respect and kindness for others, leadership, community participation, and stewardship of natural resources.
Pink Lemonade Project
The grant will help Pink Lemonade Project provide wraparound support for local people affected by breast cancer and their families, including outreach, education, screening, financial assistance, retreats, support groups, and mentoring. Staff work with social workers, community health workers, and nurse navigators from the area’s major health care systems so they know about these programs and can refer patients to them.
Impact C-W – St. Matthews Lutheran Church
Funds will buy food and $75 grocery gift cards for families in need in the Camas and Washougal School Districts. The food and gift cards are boxed and distributed to families to cover the summer weeks when school lunch programs are not available.
Unite! Washougal Community Coalition
This grant will support Club Unite! at Jemtegaard and Canyon Creek Middle Schools; the Positive Community Norms project at Washougal High School; “Love Your Life” campaign in the Washougal Community; the Breathe Easy youth coalition project; and the Support our Ambassador Youth Program.
Komak
Funding will provide emergency financial assistance to individuals and families who are normally self-supporting but are unable to meet basic needs during cancer treatment, either because the patient is unable to work or because the caregiver must miss work to help the patient. Many clients would face bankruptcy, eviction, homelessness, repossessions, or food insecurity without this emergency financial assistance.
Enspire Arts
Enspire Arts creates vibrant and interactive arts experiences that promote well-being, learning, and connection. The grant will help pay for insurance covering students, teachers, volunteers, and Board members. It will also support operating expenses such as venue rental, supplies, teaching artist fees, scholarships, and administrative staff.
West Columbia Gorge Humane Society
The grant will support programs and services that keep pets and people together during hardship, crisis, or emergency: a pet food pantry, temporary pet boarding, impound and owner-surrender fee relief, and veterinary assistance.
Camas Robotics Booster Club (aka Team Mean Machine)
The mission of the Robotics Team is to inspire students to become engaged in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills that inspire innovation and foster well-rounded life capabilities, including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. Funds will cover fees so students with financial need can take part in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) classes and activities. The grant will also support STEM education and outreach in the Camas and Washougal area.
Camas Farmers Market
Camas Farmers Market uses the grant funds to continue a token program called “Produce Pals.” Produce Pals is a weekly program that teaches children where and how food is produced. Children who complete the program receive a $2 token to spend on locally grown fruits and vegetables at the Camas Farmers Market.
Cascadia Technical Academy Foundation
Grant funds will purchase required uniforms for students from families with financial constraints. The grant will also help families with basic needs, such as food and transportation, during a financial emergency like a job loss or medical crisis. Finally, it will provide transportation during summer school, when school buses are not running.
Friends and Foundation of the Camas Public Library
Grant funds will help launch Heritage at Home, a new initiative that puts memory preservation tools directly in the hands of local families. Through circulating digitization, playback, and oral history kits, Heritage at Home empowers Camas and Washougal residents to view, protect, and share their family memories. It is, in essence, a way for the library to say, “from our archive to yours.”
J.D. Currie Youth Camp
Funds will go toward replacing footbridge #4 in the middle of the camp’s trail system. Costs include permitting, materials, and labor for this next phase of improvements to the rustic camp.
Evergreen Habitat for Humanity
The grant will help Evergreen Habitat complete home repairs for low-income homeowners in Camas and Washougal. The repairs address health and safety needs in the home and for the homeowner. Beyond preserving housing stock, the program helps low-income owners, people with disabilities, and older adults remain safely in their homes.
Columbia Play Project
Columbia Play Project believes that every child deserves the freedom to play – inside or outside, with materials or just their imagination, in a group or quietly on their own. Grant funds will support a three-part summer event series on the history of play in Washington and the important role that materials, tools and craftsmanship have played in the cultural and economic development of Camas and Washougal. CPP will partner with the Two Rivers Heritage Museum to deliver the series.
Camas-Washougal Parent Co-Op Preschool
The grant will help cover the preschool’s operating budget, specifically a 50 percent increase in annual property rental costs.
FVRL Foundation – Washougal Branch
The grant will support fundraising by the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District, Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation, and Friends of Washougal Community Library for a new 13,000-square-foot library in downtown Washougal. The current 2,300-square-foot library limits access to collections and resources, such as reading and study space, meeting rooms, and computers.
The Little Wings Library
Funds will be used to construct one Little Wings Library in an underserved area of Camas or Washougal. Books for young people and teens will be purchased or donated to stock each library with at least 150 books. The motto of the Little Wings Library is READ IT – LOVE IT – RETURN IT. Finally, the grant will pay for dedicated storage space where volunteers process books to stock the operating libraries.
Camas Washougal Historical Society
A new laptop computer will help volunteers research local artifacts, stories, pictures, and documents.
Council for the Homeless
This award will support the Homeless Student Stability Program, which provides direct support to families and unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness. The program’s goal is to increase housing and educational stability by supporting academic learning and helping families secure stable housing.
Junior Achievement of Oregon and Southwest Washington
Grant dollars will fund JABizTown for 572 students from Camas and Washougal. JABizTown prepares young people for future success by building financial literacy and career skills through twelve hours of classroom training and a five-hour simulation in which they operate businesses, manage budgets, repay loans, understand taxes, practice teamwork, and develop leadership skills.
LiveWell Camas
This grant will provide a free summer camp through the Little Warriors Program for youth ages 5–9 whose families fall below the Federal Poverty Level. Qualifying youth will gain access to a safe, culturally rich, health-supportive, full-day summer program with measurable academic, social-emotional learning, nutrition, and equity outcomes.
NAMI Southwest Washington
Grant funds will support community outreach for NAMI’s CALM and SEE ME mental illness presentations, which give businesses and other public-facing institutions the tools and skills to interact safely and respectfully with people living with mental illness, especially those in the midst of a crisis.
Police Activities League of Southwest Washington
Funds will buy books and supplies for PAL’s second-grade literacy program in Camas and Washougal schools.
Washington DECA
Scholarships will help local students in need attend DECA conferences. Conferences are DECA’s most impactful educational programs, offering events, sessions, and competitions that build practical skills and knowledge.