Circus raises funds for non-profit groups
Switchboard brings
performers to town
By David Brown
04 Vt* Emerald
“Come on! What are you? A man or a
mouse!," squawks the irritating man
from his perch inside the dunk tank. For
50 cents you can buy three softballs and
three chances to silence the man’s ar
rogant antagonism.
There may be drier fund-raising meth
ods, but Switchboard wanted to sponsor
something that would lift morale for the
entire non-profit community, says Kathy
Ricciuty, Switchboard's circus coordin
ator.
And the Pickle Family Circus wanted to
play Eugene. "They love to play in
Eugene,” says Marie Fink, Switchboard
Director.
So the internationally-known circus
presented four open air shows as the
main attraction last weekend. Twelve
area non-profits and public sevices
hosted an “old fashioned circus midway
of food and game booths," courtesy of
Switchboard, Eugene’s information and
referral service.
Larry Pisoni, from a vaudeville family,
founded the Pickle Family Circus after
studying circus arts at New York Univer
sity and touring the East Coast with his
juggling act. He wanted an old time
circus in touch with the people, Ricciuty
says.
The extravaganza generally caters to
non-profit fund raisers.
The arrangements "took just a phe
nomenal amount of work. Even though
this is a fund raiser, people are so broke
that they don’t have the energy or the
money to make money," Ricciuty says.
"People are moving out of town. A lot
of businesses are closing. We feel that
we have to take some kind of positive
action," Ricciuty says.
"A mortality rate” threatens non
profits, Fink says. Educational services
and outreach programs which keep
people informed as to what an agency
has to offer are the most frequent ca
sualties. “When an agency's survival is
threatened, it pulls in its forces," Fink
explains.
"We just got news that we will no
longer be receiving the Lane County
Board of Commissioners Agenda of
meetings" because of county budget
cuts, she notes.
The effect of the current economy has
been “tremendous" on Switchboard’s
budget. “At one point we had six staff
people,” Fink says. Following federal
CETA cuts, Switchboard now has two
full-time and one part-time staff people.
Donations from private institutions
also decreased because less money now
circulates to private institutions and
churches, Fink says.
Uncertainty about the economy may
also be a great factor in the reluctance of
private institutions to donate to non
profits, says Raymond Albano, program
director of the Amity Foundation.
Amity, which hosted a booth at the
circus, has been "pretty dependent on
grants from the federal department of
wmw
Photo by Erich Boekelheide
A youngster enjoys a pony ride sponsored by the Cascade Valley Waldorf School at a Switchboard-coordinated fundraiser.
The ride took in $35 Saturday and Sunday.
energy. There are no more grants for us
there," Aibano says.
Contributions from businesses have
fallen since numerous organizations
began turning to business as an alterna
tive to losses of government funds, Ai
bano says.
EUGENE
SWITCHBOARD
INC
VINTAGE TELEPHONE CIRCA IM7
Logo courtesy ot Switchboard
Amity now tries to develop local sup
port. For example, Aibano says Amity
has submitted a proposal to the com
munity BLOCK grant program to develop
an organic marketing co-op. The co-op
supplies a market outlet for local organic
farmers who are members.
Even though volunteers represent a
good resource for non-profits, they do
not replace "solid dollars,” Albano says.
They do not replace research and ma
terials used in projects such as Amity's
solar green house.
The green house creates an environ
ment in which plants filter air for fish
which supply waste fertilizer for vegeta
ble starts in return. The system's inputs
are sun, fish food, water and seedlings.
The output is transplant-sized starts.
Rather than continue similar projects
independently, Amity hopes to cooper
ate with other organizations on fund
raisers like the circus and various
projects.
"Maybe that (cooperation) is one of
the positive things that's happened out
of Reaganomics," Albano adds.
Frugality, ingenuity and expanded
fund raising comprise the major part of
new survival tactics for the Cascade
Valley Waldorf School, says LeeAnn Er
mandes, the school’s fund raising coor
dinator. The school’s pony ride had
raised $35 towards the end of the cir
cus’s first of two days.
The school depends on parents' con
tributions and tuition, she says.
Despite “tremendous financial
strains, the school just keeps on going
because of parent support," Ermandes
says. She says parents feel strongly
towards the school's philosophy and
wouldn't want their children going to
school elsewhere.
The school “educates the whole
child” rather than "just the intellect,”
she explains.
But many parents have lost their jobs,
Ermandes says. “We are looking real
hard for tuition assistance for parents.”
For outside income, the school cur
rently approaches private foundations
through personal friends in those organ
izations. In the past, they approached
businesses for donations. But there is
less money available through business
sources.
Doing a little business of their own,
organizatons participating in the circus
invested their "unrestricted funds” to
make those funds grow. Unrestricted
funds are money that organizations raise
on their own rather than receive through
"earmarked” donations, explains Fink.
Switchboard generates unrestricted
funds through the sale of their "Human
Services Guide” for "cost plus a little bit”
and slight charges for their ride share
service, says Fink.
The menu for Switchboard’s midway
booth included corn on the cob, fruit,
juices and baked goods. They also host
ed the dunk barrel.
One of Switchboard’s biggest returns
from the circus project has been working
with the cooperation of Eugene Parks
and Recreation and the Downtown As
sociation. This cooperation opens the
door to further correlation between the
city and non-profits, says Fink.
A recent letter from Mayor Gus Keller
reads, ‘‘As Mayor of Eugene, I am
pleased to support the efforts of local
and public service agencies to bring the
Pickle Family Circus to this community."
For the future, Fink plans more exten
sive community net-working and a
volunteer member drive.
SUMMER SPECIALS
at the
TURNING POINT
Perms
$25.00
hair cut included
(long hair extra)
Haircuts
$10.00
ask for
KATHY MCCARTY
The Turning Point
3434813
Try Our
Breakfast Special!!
Two Eggs
Generous portion of Home Fries
Toast or English Muffin
Coffee
ONLY $1.50
RENNIES
LANDING
Rennie's Landing • 1214 Kincaid • 687-0000