TODAY show selects Foundation

Summertime Play Gets a Helping Hand for Portland's Children

Portland's neighborhood parks received a gigantic boost when Portland Parks Foundation was selected by NBC Today show to receive more than $385,000 of recreational goods from local and national businesses. As the sun rose in the eastern sky, box after box emerged from three large trucks revealing sports gear, clothing, books, electronic equipment, art supplies, and other useful and fun items, all to be used in summer playground programs throughout the city of Portland.

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"When budget cuts lower expectations of good things to come, what communities need more than anything else are people to step up, which is exactly what NBC's Al Roker has done with his Lend a Hand program," said Rich Brown, the Foundation's board chairman.

The Foundation, a nonprofit charity, was selected in a nation-wide search as the beneficiary of the program. The Foundation's mission is to work with donors to support park programs for children, bring parks to park-deficient neighborhoods, and steward Portland's existing parks. 

Since 2003, the Foundation, with major support from partners throughout the community, has directed more than $1 million toward parks and park programs that serve at-risk children in Portland through its Project Inclusion program. Working hand-in-hand with Portland Parks & Recreation, the Foundation has provided thousands of children access to park programs that meet vital needs such as regular exercise, activities to stimulate creative thinking, positive role models, and a sense of belonging to the broader community.

In all of the Lend a Hand abundance, there were several standouts. Two new mobile climbing walls donated by Kool-Aid and KinderCare Learning Centers will more than double the current capacity of Portland Parks & Recreation to offer this valuable sport to children and youth. An 8-passenger Toyota van will help to bring children without transportation directly to the parks. Donations from Columbia Sportswear, Nike, Inc., Toys R Us, Office Depot, Canon, Glidden Paints, and a host of others will fuel playground programs for years to come.