SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2021 | 7A
Western Lane County Foundation awards nearly $90,000 to local nonprofits
WLCF President Kar-
en Skulley and Executive
Director Gayle Vinchesi
recently announced that
29 local nonprofit orga-
nizations will be receiv-
ing grant awards totaling
$89,974.83 in the 2021
grant cycle.
These grants represent
the WLCF’s ongoing mis-
sion of supporting proj-
ects or programs provid-
ing needed services or
facilities for which public
funds are not available,
or insufficient, and to
contribute to the cultur-
al, economic, education-
al or social betterment of
our community.
The foundation’s intent
is to award large enough
sums to make a signifi-
cant and visible impact
on a demonstrated need
in western Lane commu-
nity.
The Foundation was
founded in 1974 and is a
community trust, private
nonprofit organization
attracting, administering
and distributing private
charitable resources for
the benefit of residents of
western Lane County.
Only the income gen-
erated by invested foun-
dation assets is awarded
as grants each year. Cur-
rent assets are over $9.4
million under the auspic-
es of Oregon Communi-
ty Foundation.
So far in 2021, more
than $382,000 has been
awarded for scholarships,
grants and agency funds.
Although foundation
members were unable to
meet in person with the
organizations to present
each with their check
and offer them an op-
portunity to speak, the
discretionary grants re-
cipients were announced
officially at the March 16
Rotary Club of Florence
meeting.
Awardees included:
Boys & Girls Club Flor-
ence Air Academy for the
summer aviation pro-
gram; Boys & Girls Club
of Western Lane Coun-
ty for club van replace-
ment; Bright Beginnings
Christian Preschool for
playground and outdoor
space
improvements;
CASA of Lane County;
CROW for dance shoes
and art supplies; Dis-
abled American Veterans
for building repairs; Eco-
Generation for recycling
“take back” events sched-
uled for Florence; Ecol-
ogy in Classrooms and
Outdoors for Mapleton
Place-based science ed-
ucation; First Step Flor-
ence Solutions for Hous-
ing Security for HVAC
updates in three transi-
tional homes; Florence
Art Culture and Enter-
tainment (FACE) to sup-
port the Florence Festival
of Books; Florence Farm-
ers Market to support the
second-annual “fill your
pantry” event; Florence
Food Share to replace ex-
isting garden beds, phase
two; Florence Habitat for
Humanity to help restore
its pickup/delivery truck;
Florence United Meth-
odist Church for the free
lunch program/Subway
voucher program; Food
Backpacks 4 Kids to pro-
vide food to our local stu-
dents; Friends of 90x30
for its “welcome baby”
project; KXCR Commu-
nity Radio for equipment
upgrades; Lane Senior
Support Coalition for
emergency support fund;
Mapleton School Dis-
trict for preschool capi-
tal expenditures; Oregon
Coast Humane Society
to support the Sarah
Fund; PeaceHealth Peace
Harbor Medical Center
Foundation for CT scan
equipment; Pregnancy
& Parenting Center for
online pregnancy and
parenting education; Siu-
slaw Elementary School
for iPads; Siuslaw High
School for soccer field
barrier netting; Siuslaw
Outreach Services for
community
resource
center planning as well
as ADA improvements
to its safe house; Siu-
slaw Pioneer Museum
for relevant website cre-
ation; Siuslaw Watershed
Council for its outdoor
recreation programs and
Triangle Food Box for
summer kids boxes and
holiday meals.
For more information
regarding how to leave
a legacy or contribute to
an existing fund, contact
Executive Director Gayle
Vinchesi at 541-997-1274
or email her at wlcf@wlc-
fonline.org.
Learn about lamprey at Siuslaw Watershed Council meeting to be held March 31
Siuslaw
Watershed
Council is hosting a Vir-
tual Watershed Commu-
nity Meeting on Wednes-
day, March 31, from 5:30
to 7:30 p.m. on the vid-
eo meeting application
Zoom.
The meeting will also
feature a presentation on
lamprey eels.
Lamprey are fish that
live in most Siuslaw
streams and rivers, yet
many of people may nev-
er have seen one.
Though not highly vis-
ible today, lamprey have
played an important eco-
logical role in rivers and
streams for millions of
years, and an important
cultural one in the Pacif-
ic Northwest and the Siu-
slaw for millennia.
Join the SWC in its
Zoom-based meeting,
where the council will
welcome a panel of guest
speakers and a film, all
bringing a wealth of
knowledge about lam-
prey’s (very) long history,
as well as work currently
being done to support
lamprey recovery.
The film is called “The
Lost Fish,” and was pro-
duced by Jeremy Monroe
of Freshwaters Illustrat-
ed.
The evening’s speakers
include:
• Ralph Lampman,
Pacific Lamprey Project
Biologist, Yakama Nation
Fisheries
• John Schaefer, Tribal
Biologist, Confederated
Tribes of the Coos, Low-
er Umpqua and Siuslaw
Indians
• Paul Burns, Fisheries
Biologist, Siuslaw Na-
tional Forest
The meeting will be
hosted via Zoom, and is
free to attend.
Also during the meet-
ing, the SWC will an-
nounce the Winter Photo
Contest winner.
Registration is re-
quired, and is easy to do.
Register in advance
for this meeting by us-
ing the following link
and following on-screen
instructions www.zoom.
us/meeting/register/tJIv-
cOyvrz0rE9LTZxGafW-
7B4vEiWPSQMWuT.
After registering, peo-
ple will receive a confir-
mation email containing
information about join-
ing the meeting.
If people have any
trouble registering, they
can contact watershed@
siuslaw.org, or call 541-
268-3044 for help.
For more information,
visit Siuslaw.org.
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