Grants will help people in need

Four nonprofit organizations that help meet people’s basic needs have been selected to receive the donations to the Jill Heiman Vision Fund from the 2022 Oregon Country Fair.

Mid Lane Cares will put the donations into the Emergency Assistance program serving vulnerable residents in the Fern Ridge area. The Emergency Fund provides help with rent and utility bills to prevent homelessness, bus passes for access to services, and other emergency needs.

Looking Glass will finance some renovations of a new home in the Rural Program in Cottage Grove. The rural program currently operates out of a small, rented facility. The new home will allow Looking Glass to expand their services to at-risk youth between the ages of 11 and 21 throughout Southeast Lane County, including Saginaw, Dorena, Culp Creek, Creswell, and Cottage Grove.

Hope & Safety Alliance (formerly WomenSpace) will install a new roof on Jamie’s House, a new emergency shelter that can house up to 22 individuals.

Community Supported Shelters will purchase basic essentials to help clients get through the winter, including warm clothing, cough drops, tissues, prescriptions, warm food, and sleeping bags.

The OCF Board triples the power of each gift by matching $2 for every $1 donated, up to a total of $25,000. Donations to the Jill Heiman Vision Fund can be mailed to the Oregon Country Fair, 442 Lawrence St., Eugene, OR 97401. Donation boxes also will be located at Information Booths at the Fair. Checks and cash donations are tax-deductible; include address for mailed receipt.

Thanks to our generous donors, in 2019 the fund raised a record $59,353. Since it began 26 years ago, the Jill Heiman Vision Fund has donated more than $561,000 to nonprofit agencies.

Philanthropy was the catalyst that began the Oregon Country Fair, has been essential to developing its long-lived success, and will provide opportunities that further its mission into the future.