Learn more about the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington at
www.cfsww.org
As part of a strategic refocusing effort, the Oregon-based Meyer Memorial Trust announced Monday that it will stop donating money to charities and causes in Clark County.
But one last major gift to a charitable foundation here is designed to keep Meyer’s benevolence paying out well into the future.
The Meyer Trust, the third largest foundation in Oregon, will make a multipart gift of $1.5 million to the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, officials said Monday.
Of that gift, $250,000 per year for two years will be granted out to local charities that are ripe for “capacity building” as determined by the Community Foundation, according to its president, Jennifer Rhoads. That could mean growing programs or hiring staff in order to serve more people, Rhoads said. It’s in keeping with the Meyer Trust’s long-term philosophy, she said.
There also will be an endowment grant of $1 million, Rhoads said, and the Community Foundation will start making grants from the interest on that endowment after those first two transitional years.
Doug Stamm, the CEO of Meyer Memorial Trust, issued a statement that said Meyer “historically included Clark County because the Trust came to view it, in effect, as part of Portland. Over more than 30 years, MMT awarded roughly $250,000 a year in grants and loans for programs there.”
But, he added: “As the county developed its own independent and robust philanthropic identity, Clark County’s place within the context of our vision of a flourishing and equitable Oregon was no longer clear.”
Rhoads said it simply means that Clark County and its philanthropic community have developed a great deal in the past 30 years.
“We are a growing community and we do have a lot more funding sources,” she said. “We are excited to partner with Meyer on this transition.
“Any grantmaking agency is trying to create as much impact as possible, and sometimes you have to narrow your focus,” Rhoads said. “What I love about this solution is, they’re not saying, ‘We’re just leaving you.’ They are leaving a permanent influence on the community.”
The Meyer Trust was created by the will of department store founder Fred G. Meyer, though the two have been completely independent for years.
The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington has granted out $133 million since it was established in 1984.
