A record total of $1,935 was awarded at the October 18 Awesome Bend Pitch Night held at Deschutes Brewery. The winner of the $1,000 Awesome Bend grant was Phil Torchio who proposed the Bend Butt Project. With the money, Torchio will rid Bend of cigarette butts by identifying the areas of highest litter rates, putting into place receptacles and assembling a crew to capture the butts. The trash will be recycled or composted. He will be seeking local businesses to host receptacles and sponsor the program.
“Cigarette butts are the most commonly discarded piece of waste worldwide,” said Torchio. “Our quaint little mountain town of Bend is not immune to this problem. Many of the discarded butts end up in our river and water supply which is absolutely unacceptable. A strong stance must be established or we will be overrun by disrespectful slobs!”
The Audience Choice prize of $395 was awarded to Nancy Ludeman for her project called Hope Bags. Ludeman will assemble bags filled with personal items and small gifts which she will distribute to women who find themselves in difficult situations, such as homelessness, coming out of jail, fleeing an abusive situation or aging out of the foster care system.
“Having lived in Bend for 41 years, I have seen many changes,” said Ludeman. “Most of the changes have provided many opportunities for the community to flourish, yet some of these same changes have also brought hardship upon some individuals and families. Hope fuels creativity and creative people are more likely to invest in themselves and others. I want to provide hope in a bag.”
“As if that weren’t enough,” added Dean of Awesomeness Pam Stevenson, “a few trustees bonded together to make an additional contribution to another project that inspired them. I’m calling it a Spontaneous Awesomeness award.”
Joe Schulte received a commitment of $540 to provide free music lessons to children whose families cannot afford them.
Awesome Bend is now accepting applications for proposals that will make Bend an even better place to live, work or play for its next quarterly grant at www.awesomebend.org. The application deadline is January 1, 2017. Finalists will be notified and invited to present 3-minute pitches at the next Awesome Bend Pitch Night which will be held January 17, 2017, 6-8:30pm at the Deschutes Brewery Tap Room, 1044 NW Bond Street in downtown Bend. The event is free and open to the public.
What Is Awesome Bend?
Awesome Bend’s mission is to inspire and support ideas that make Bend an even better place to live, work and play.
The guidelines for grant selection include:
⦁ The project must be feasible and completed with $1000 within three months of the award.
⦁ The money cannot be used for personal expenses or general operating expenses for an established charity.
⦁ Grantees agree to return to the next Pitch Night and tell the community about their project, thus inspiring future awesomeness.
For more information about Pitch Night, to apply for a grant or to apply to become a trustee, please visit www.awesomebend.org or email awesomebend@gmail.com.
Awesome Bend
Making Bend more awesome, $1000 at a time.
www.awesomebend.org
