Oregon Community Foundation boosts SPRD

Sisters Park & Recreation District was presented with two checks from the Oregon Community Foundation during the December Community Dinner. Presented by Fran Willis, a Sisters resident and representative of Oregon Community Foundation, the checks represented grant awards for two projects.

The Skate Park Initiative received $20,000 for the completion of the Skate Flow Park to be completed in the late spring of 2013. This grant award reflects gifts from the F.J. Hodecker Family Fund, The H.J. and Grand Sandberg Fund, and the Robert W. and Marjorie C. Chandler Fund, all funds of the Oregon Community Foundation. Partnered with the $70,000 grant award from the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department, the flow park is fully funded.

The second check, for $25,000, was presented to SPRD as a capacity-building grant award for the district to create a Community Project Development Coordinator position. This grant was made possible by the J.G. Edward Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation.

This position will work on behalf of the district's projects, the projects of SPRD committees, as well as projects the district shares with partners. Initiatives such as Community Schools will benefit as well as the work of the Sisters Trails Alliance, and other important community committees that serve as partners of SPRD. It will allow for the district to put more emphasis on developing funding and support for projects that benefit the whole community.

"This is exciting for the district, as it opens up opportunities that we would have no way to pursue due to limited staff capacity," said Anne Heath, SPRD executive director. "We wish to thank Oregon Community Foundation for their continued support of SPRD, and the Sisters community as a whole."

The district also recently received a grant from the Jubitz Foundation to support the operations of the SPRD preschool. This grant will help offset the costs of operating the preschool as well as provide some scholarship funding for families in need whose children are currently enrolled in the preschool.