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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 2004)
Android Ethic plays a benefit concert for FOOD for Lane County Friday. BY CHRISTINE MATHIAS The Giving Gift Non-profits need your help this holiday season. E ven if you don’t have time this holi- day to build a home for the home- less, plant a thousand acres of trees, or help Iraqi children learn to read, you can still consider giving charitable donations or volunteering your extra time to local organi- zations that do all that and more. Eugene is home to hundreds of great nonprofits doing great work in our community and in the world. We can’t list them all but here are a few you might consider making donations to this holiday season. Have fun while you contribute to FOOD for Lane County. Just show up at Café Paradiso this Friday to hear local band Android Ethic rock out for a good cause. The cover is just $8 and half of it will go to help feed hungry people in Lane County. There are plenty of other ways to help put food on tables this holiday season. Try donat- ing extra box and canned food to the Emerald Community Center emergency food box at 90 Lawrence St., or volunteer at a local soup kitchen such as the Eugene Mission, located at 1542 W. First St. Don’t forget that the four-legged furry friends who have to spend Christmas in a shelter need to eat too. The Greenhill Humane Society has its annual “Share A Little Love” campaign this time of year; do- nate to their fund by sending your contribu- tion to 88530 Green Hill Road, Eugene, or by logging on to www.green-hill.org Eugene’s Growers Market supports local organic farmers. Visit their selection of fresh health food at 454 Willamette St. from 4-7 pm on Tuesdays, or call 687-1145 for more information on how you can help. To help protect and preserve Oregon’s natural landscape and wildlife, send dona- tions to Oregon Chapter Sierra Club at 2950 SE Stark, Suite 110, Portland, OR 97214. You can also find meetings and other ways to take action by visiting Oregon.sierr- aclub.org St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County supports the Eugene community in a wide variety of ways. To donate goods, visit one of St. Vincent’s drive-through donation centers listed in the phone book or call 345- 0595 to arrange for pick-up of larger house- hold items and appliances. You can donate your vehicle to St. Vincent’s “Cars for a Cause” program by calling 607-4541, or you can volunteer your time at their social service office by contacting Roxanne at 689-6747 or Julie at 607-9733. If you can’t find anything to do with all your old office or kitchen supplies, you should log on to the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts (DIVA) website at www.divanow.org to check out their “wish- list.” Your donation to DIVA helps support local artistic culture and keeps Eugene artists painting into the new year. The Oregon Cultural Trust supports our unique Oregon culture as well. Their wide range of support varies from museums to dance performances, and the ways you can donate range just as much. Check out their website to find out how you can help––from sending funds to buying an abstract license plate design. www. culturaltrust.org (see story below). Local theaters need your help too. Willamette Repertory Theatre, Lord Leebrick Theatre, The Very Little Theater, Actor’s Cabaret and Cottage Theatre all work on tight budgets and aren’t supported by a larger instituntion such as UO or the LCC. Yet they continue to entertain, enlighten and challenge social norms and the status quo. The Eugene Education Fund supports students in School District 4J by funding projects to ensure they have the best educa- tion possible despite cuts in state funding. To donate to the entire project or to a school of your choice, send checks to “EEF” (and any additional designations) to EEF, P.O. Box 1015, Eugene, 97440. Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS) works to end oppression and sexual violence through youth education, support services, and outreach programs. Send dona- tions to 591 W. 19th Ave., Eugene, or call 484-9791 to find out how you can help. To support the efforts of our troops in Iraq, consider Operation Iraqi Children for your charity. The organization is a grass-roots program that enables Americans to send School Supply kits to the schools that were severely neglected under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. To give a tax-deduc- tible donation, visit the website at www.operationiraqichildren.org. ew BY SYLVIE PEDERSON Oregon Cultural Trust Make your cultural donation and keep it too! L as little as $250. ocal arts organizations are struggling to keep their People interested in participating should note, however, doors open while many Oregonians could easily afford that if their contribution exceeds their state tax liability, they to make donations, but are not aware of the generous will not get all of their money back because this is not a refund- tax breaks now available. The Oregon Cultural Trust (OCT) is a statewide program leg- able tax credit. “You get it refunded only up to your tax liabil- islated into existence in 2001 to preserve and support Oregon’s ity,” says Hollis, a CPA and member of the DIVA Board. “You should make a check with the amount you think you’ll be taxed culture and heritage, and to encourage public funding for the by the state.” arts. “OCT is the only example of direct democracy in taxation in OCT’s goal is to build up, largely from donations, a pro- the U.S.,” said Palmer. “It allows you to say: I want my money to tected long-term endowment of more than $200 million that go to culture.” will in turn generate substantial funding for cultural organiza- Palmer sees the Cultural Trust tax credit as a great leverage tions and activities. Oregon currently ranks near the bottom in for arts organizations to raise money: “The OCT tax credit ex- terms of state support for arts and culture, behind Arkansas ists to make people increase their contributions to cultural or- and Alabama. The oldest state-funded society in Oregon, the ganizations and to augment the cultural state fund.” Oregon Historical Society, lost all state funding last year. Forty-two percent of OCT funds are distributed annually However, Oregonians clearly care about the arts and culture through grants to Oregon’s 36 and many make individual do- counties and nine Indian tribes, nations. All donors now have ‘OCT is the only example of direct to local cultural organizations, the opportunity to effectively double their contributions at democracy in taxation in the U.S., and to five statewide cultural partner agencies (the Oregon no cost to themselves by It allows you to say: Arts Commission, the Oregon matching such contributions with a donation to OCT in ex- I want my money to go to culture.’ Council for the Humanities, the Oregon Heritage Commission, change for a 100 percent tax – Scott Palmer the Oregon Historical Society credit. “Tax credit reduces your and the State Historic tax bill, whereas tax deduction Preservation Office). The remaining 58 percent feed the en- lowers your taxable income,” says Scott Palmer, OCT’s trust dowment. manager since last August. The Trust receives money from the sale of the OCT license Yet Palmer notes that so far only 4,500 people in Oregon plate designed by artist Kelly Kievit and the sale of surplus (243 in Lane County) take advantage of tax credits per year: state land, but gifts from individuals and businesses are its “That’s 3 to 5 percent of the total number of people who write most important source of funding. checks for cultural purposes, a very small percentage!” Donors interested in doubling their contributions at no cost To contribute to OCT and get money back as a dollar-for- will find OCT brochures at their favorite cultural nonprofits. dollar tax credit, individuals must first make a (tax-deductible) Further information is available at www.culturaltrust.org or by donation to a nonprofit cultural organization of their choice, calling (503) 986-0088. Palmer also advises potential donors then write a matching check to OCT. The amount given to OCT to talk to their CPA or tax adviser. To purchase the OCT license (up to $500 per person and $2,500 for corporate organiza- plate, contact your local DMV or go to tions) will be returned in the form of a state tax credit. www.oregondmv.com/Vehicles/sample_plate.htm. For a person in the middle-bracket income, a $1,000 dona- Contributions made by the Dec. 31 deadline will qualify tion to a cultural nonprofit matched by a $1,000 contribution donors to receive a dollar-for-dollar credit on their 2004 to OCT will result in a $2,000 federal tax deduction and $1,000 Oregon State income tax. – Sylvie Pederson state tax credit. The actual cost of a $2,000 donation may be DECEMBER 16, 2004 13
