Community Impact
2021 Polar Plunge
Oregonians have a longstanding tradition of plunging into frigid waters every February to raise money for Special Olympics Oregon. This year's plunge was certainly different, but with no exception!
Together with our members, we raised $10,054 for Special Olympics Oregon. A huge thank you to our members who donated in our branches and online! In place of the traditional Columbia River plunge, our staff held a super soaker plunge event at our Gresham branch. Watch the video recap.
Our CEO committed to a number of Super Plunges for each fundraising milestone including a snow angel in shorts and a t-shirt, skiing Mt. Hood in shorts and a t-shirt, and finally, spending the night on Mt. Hood in nothing but a sleeping bag and a bivy sack! You can see more of Sam's Super Plunges adventures in the videos below.
Until next year!
Special Olympics Oregon (SOOR) is an organization that changes lives everyday. They empower our fellow Oregonians with intellectual disabilities through the transformative power and pure joy of athletic competition. To learn more about SOOR's impact, click here.
Oregon wildfire relief
2020 was a year full of unexpected events, and the wildfires that burned across Oregon were no exception. Many of our members, friends, family and communities were directly and indirectly impacted by these fires. Our Oregon City branch had to temporarily close, and we had a handful of our staff who's families were wildfire victims.
We chose to stand up and support our community the best way we knew how: by supporting the American Red Cross Cascades Region. Over the course of two weeks, our members helped us raise $42,005 for Red Cross Cascades Region. As of the end of October, they had provided Oregonians 4,199 shelter stays, 19,085 hotel stays, and 31,426 meals served - which assured us we did the right thing.
