Grants support summer programs

Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD) has been awarded grant funds from both the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation and The Roundhouse Foundation, helping to fund summer programs in Sisters. 

Both will fund the "Earthkeepers" summer adventure program for youth in grades 1-6. "Little Keepers" is a camp for ages 3-5, which follows the same themes as the adventure camp but toned down for the younger kids; the grant funds that camp as well.

According to SPRD manager Anne Heath, funds are essential to helping to offset the costs of materials and supplies, contract instructors, and transportation for the summer camps.

"They make it possible for the district to offer high-quality camps at a reasonable rate to families," Heath noted. "In addition it allows for great opportunities for campers, such as field trips to places like the High Desert Museum, the Newberry Crater, and many lakes, streams, and valuable natural resource areas."

Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation is a longtime funder of the district, granting dollars for the original SOAR organization to assist in the purchase and installation of the modular classroom, to fund an outdoor playground, a wilderness program, the middle-school Life Skills Program, and afterschool programs.

The foundation grants nearly $1 million each year to nonprofit organizations located within the Cow Creek homelands in seven Oregon counties including Coos, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lane. Grant awards are given for education, positive youth development, community support, child care, child-abuse prevention and the arts.

The Roundhouse Foundation is also a longtime funder of the district. Their grants have historically funded summer camps, arts programming, after-school programs and most recently middle school sports. The Roundhouse Foundation seeks to fund collaborative, community projects that celebrate the arts and heighten community awareness and appreciation for the arts in its many aspects.

"Kathy Deggendorfer, foundation trustee, is a valuable partner to the district as she provides valuable direction and feedback on quality programming for youth and adults in the Sisters area," Heath said.

The Roundhouse grant for summer programs also helps to fund the Americana Project Camp, Theatre Camp, Creative Genius, The Summer Paint Out, and the Science Wizard Camp.

Partnered with the Bonnie Malone Scholarship Fund, the Kiwanis Scholarship Fund, and the City of Sisters Scholarship Fund, grant funds allow SPRD to offer camps to families no matter what their ability to pay.

For more information about SPRD Summer Camps visit the website at www.sistersrecreation.com or call the SPRD office at 541-549-2091.