Community Relief Fund Gets $100K Matching Grant from Meyer Memorial Trust

PORTLAND –April 13, 2009— Meyer Memorial Trust announced a matching grant of $100,000 to support the Community Relief Fund to provide rent and utilities assistance for people in need.

United Way, Oregon Food Bank, and Community Action Programs in all four metro-area counties have formed the Community Relief Fund to shore up an already strained community safety net. The appeal for emergency funds will help support families who have been hardest hit in the economic crisis with basic needs like food, rent, and utilities.

“We are eager to support the Community Relief Fund to assist people struggling through these uncertain and challenging times. We commend the coalition for responding to increasing demand for critical human services,” says Doug Stamm, CEO, Meyer Memorial Trust.

In the four-county area, more than 100,000 people are looking for work, twice what it was last year. Calls to 2-1-1 for resources were up 40% in the past three months. Utility companies are reporting than one in five of their customers are having difficulties paying bills.

Meyer Memorial Trust joins other grantmakers like the Oregon Community Foundation, Providence Health & Services, and Enterprise Rent-a-Car Foundation in responding to the community-wide effort to raise dollars for local front-line agencies.

“Families and individuals are facing very difficult times across the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area. Meyer Memorial Trust’s support of the Community Relief Fund illustrates the willingness of organizations to work together to help people in need in these extraordinary times,” says Marc Levy, CEO and President, United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.

To learn more about the Community Relief Fund, visit www.give10tell10.org/needs.html

About Meyer Memorial Trust
Meyer Memorial Trust was created by the late Fred G. Meyer, who built the chain of retail stores bearing his name throughout the Pacific Northwest. When Mr. Meyer died in 1978 at the age of 92, his will established the Trust, which began operating in 1982. Meyer Memorial Trust is a private, independent foundation representing Mr. Meyer's personal philanthropy. It is not connected with Fred Meyer Inc., the retail enterprise.

The Meyer Memorial Trust makes grants to qualified tax-exempt applicants in Oregon and Clark County, Washington. The Trust operates three programs: Strategic Initiatives, Grants, and Program Related Investments. Learn more at: www.mmt.org

About the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette
United Way of the Columbia-Willamette is working to advance the common good in the four-county Portland/Vancouver area by focusing on the basics we all need for success:  education, income, and health. We all win when children succeed in school, families are financially stable and independent, and people have good health. Our goal is to create long-lasting changes that prevent problems from happening in the first place. By working together we can create opportunities for a better life and create a stronger community.  That’s what it means to LIVE UNITED.