Four Jefferson County Organizations received Donations

The Oregon Community Foundation awarded a combined $60,000 in funding to four Jefferson County Organizations.

The Warm Springs Community Action Team was awarded two $25,000 grants from the OCF which will be used to fund their ongoing Youth Mural Project, where youth create, paint, and maintain the murals located throughout Warm Springs.

Another arm of the Warm Springs Community Action team, Tananawit also received funding from the OCF in the amount of $5000 from their Arts and Culture Recovery Fund, designated to supporting artist that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tananawit began in 2013 and has since opened a physical shop and an ecommerce site to support artists in selling their art. The fund will be used to to increase their ecommerce capabilities and support the store, allowing them to include more artists, giving them a path to artistic success.

The Columbia river Institute for Indigenous Development (CRIID) is also receiving funding, as they are trying to establish a program to document, preserve and teach their native language Ichishkin. CRIID originally developed the program as an in-person teaching class, led by elders to spread the language and culture to youth as their are only 10 Ichishkin speakers remaining in Warm Springs. The COVID-19 Pandemic changed all that and now CRIID hopes to use this funding to support elders working from home and establishing the technical skills to teach language classes in an online format.

The Jefferson County Cultural Commission also received funding through OCF, along with all 36 county cultural coalitions in Oregon. In the past, they’ve given grants to local school districts, the Jefferson County historical society, the Jefferson County Library District, Madras High School Key Club, and the Madras Saturday Market. They’re still in process of distributing grants for 2022.

OCF’s grants has funded hundreds of organizations across the state, this year ranging from all 36 county cultural commissions and all nine federally recognized tribes to over 100 art and culture non-profits.

Full Article link is here —-> Madras Pioneer