The Camas-Washougal Community Chest is pleased to announce the award of 28 grants totaling $110,000 to local non-profit organizations delivering 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 severe weather shelter program at the Washougal Senior Center, a homeless family day center located at Saint Thomas Aquinas in Camas or enhancing the habitat of Gibbons Creek in the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge. In addition, Campership Awards are being provided to local Camas-Washougal Boy Scout troops to allow families in need to send their scouts to summer camp. Since 1946 the Community Chest has been all about helping local charities thrive.
Some of the non-profit organizations being funded in 2020 include Inter-Faith Treasure House, Children Home Society’s East County Family Resource Center, Janus Youth Program, ReFuel Washougal, Family
Promise of Clark County and Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership. For a complete listing of the 2020 grant awards see attached 2020 grant summary.
Thanks to major donations from the GP Foundation, GP employees, Camas School District employees, City of Camas employees, Windermere Foundation and Watercare Industrial Services. CWCC is well on the way to funding these grants. To reach its 2020 fundraising goal of $110,000, however, the CWCC needs additional donations from individuals and businesses in Camas and Washougal. More information and donation forms can be found on the CWCC’s website at www.CamasWashougalCommunityChest.org. The CWCC is a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization for federal charitable tax deduction purposes. Says CWCC President Joelle Scheldorf, “We changed our logo and our look, but our mission is the same. When you donate to the Community Chest, your dollars support much-needed programs and services for residents of
Camas and Washougal”.
2020 Grant Program Summary
Total number of grants awarded – 28
Total value of grants awarded – $110,000
Estimated number of individual services funded by grants – more than 18,000
Community Programs/Projects Funded in 2020
Children’s Home Society – East County Family Resource Center ($13,000)
Helps fund staff at Resource Center. Helps fund parent education groups, youth support groups, emergency basic assistance, behavioral health services and health care services.
Family Promise of Clark County ($12,735)
Helps cover a portion of the cost for a part-time Resource Manager to be located at a Day Center hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas parish in Camas. The Resource Manager will offer life skills classes to the clients.
Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership ($10,000)
Provides classroom lessons and outdoor applied learning programs for youth, including habitat enhancement projects adjacent to Gibbons Creek in the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
Inter-Faith Treasure House ($8,000)
Helps fund emergency and daily food needs, school backpack food program, emergency utility assistance and person-in-crisis outreach activities.
Janus Youth Programs ($5,000)
Provides funding for outreach efforts and overnight facility stays for Camas and Washougal runaway youth at risk for abuse and neglect. Re-introduces kids to safe housing.
Friends of the Columbia Gorge ($5,000)
Helps fund the Explore the Gorge classroom lessons and outdoor environmental education program for sixth graders in Jemtegaard and Canyon Creek Middle schools in Washougal School District.
ReFuel Washougal ($4,200)
Buys 25 waterproof sleeping bags, a refrigerator/freezer, C-Tran bus passes and a Food Service License to serve Friday and severe weather meals at the Washougal Senior center.
Camas Farmers Market ($4,000)
Helps implement “Produce Pals”, a weekly activities program to educate children about where and how food is produced. Kids completing weekly program receive a $2 token to spend at Camas Farmers Market – grant will buy tokens.
Dance Evolution ($4,000)
Helps pay for free dance lessons for toddlers 0 to 5 and young girls ages 9 to 15. Future plans call for adding free programs for boys and students with developmental disabilities.
Teen Reach Adventure Camp (T.R.A.C.) ($3,150)
Pays a portion of the rental fee to bring a rock-climbing wall to each camping event. T.R.A.C. is designed specifically to meet the needs of teens in foster care between ages of 12 and 15.
Camas School District – Principal’s Checkbook ($3,000)
Helps Camas school principals provide for basic student needs to give low income or homeless students equal opportunities at school.
Washougal School District – Principal’s Checkbook ($3,000)
Helps Washougal school principals provide for basic student needs to give low income or homeless students equal opportunities at school.
Clark County Veterans Assistance Center ($3,000)
Helps buy food for daily breakfast or lunch meals at Center and for monthly food box program to assist veterans and their families.
Kiwanis Camp Wa-Ri-Ki ($3,000)
Helps fund a climbing wall at the gymnasium and make repairs to an existing walking bridge.
General Federation of Women’s Clubs ($3,000)
Helps buy age appropriate books, backpacks and other learning tools for a Reach for the Stars with Books program at Hathaway Elementary School. Program aimed at youth from birth through age 5 to grow their school readiness skills and strengthen their social interaction skills.
Meals on Wheels ($2,500)
Purchases food and food service supplies for Camas and Washougal Meals on Wheels People program.
Friends and Foundation of the Camas Library ($2,500)
Supports the Camas Library’s summer reading program for kids and teens.
REACH Community Development ($2,500)
Funds supplies and materials for Kids Club programs and community building events at REACH’s Gateway Gardens and Town Square Apartment neighborhoods in Washougal. Also funds school supply and gift giveaways programs.
Camas Sister City Organization ($2,500)
Helps cover transportation fees, event admission fees and hosting school and civic receptions associated with two Japanese student exchange trips.
Partners with Camas Parks and Recreation – Skate Park ($2,500)
Pays for a portion of the cost to rehabilitate the existing skate park.
Opera Quest Northwest ($2,000)
Helps to educate, enrich and instill a love of music in children by introducing them to opera through a lively production that blends classic opera excerpts with a humorous, interactive script.
Camas-Washougal Historical Society ($2,000)
Helps build The Gathering Place at Washuxwal, an open-air pavilion next to the Two Rivers Heritage Museum. Specifically, the cultural and arts exhibits in the pavilion will educate visitors about native heritage in the Camas and Washougal area.
Clark County Historical Society and Museum ($2,000)
Pays a portion of the event costs for CCHM to present a historic downtown Camas Speaker Series at the Liberty Theatre on July 2, 2020.
TreeSong Nature Awareness and Retreat Center ($1,715)
Helps cover event costs and buys supplies for Run Wild! Nature Adventures Family Fun Day at Fallen Leaf Lake Park in Camas. Run Wild! is a participatory event that immerses attendees in the beauty of nature through nature education, physical activity, storytelling, art, music, and theater.
Pathways Pregnancy Clinic ($1,700)
Purchases tablet computers to streamline client intake process. Buys software upgrades for the existing “Earn While You Learn” curriculum.
Journey Theater Arts Group ($1,500)
Helps cover a portion of the rental fee, costumes, sets and props to put on a production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Washburn Performing Arts Center in Washougal May 17 – 26, 2019.
Boy Scouts of America – Camas/Washougal Troops ($1,500)
Helps fund Campership Awards so that families in need can send their scouts to summer camp.
Police Activities League of Vancouver ($1,000)
Buys books and pays for police staff time to present five literacy events for 2nd and 3rd graders in the Camas and Washougal School Districts.