(Graphics courtesy of MountainStar)
What if the everyday cost of doing business could help keep children safe and families strong? Three Bend-based organizations are coming together to demonstrate how it can.
MountainStar Family Relief Nursery (MountainStar), Webfoot Home Improvements, and Purpose In Expenses (PIE) are announcing an innovative partnership that transforms routine business expenses into ongoing charitable contributions, creating a sustainable source of support for children and families across Central Oregon.
Through PIE’s unique business model, Webfoot is leveraging expenses it already incurs, including payment processing and mobile phone services, to generate recurring donations to MountainStar. The partnership is expected to generate approximately $4,000 annually for MountainStar, while also saving Webfoot thousands of dollars in operating expenses.
For MountainStar, which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2026, the partnership represents an exciting new approach to philanthropy and an opportunity to build long-term sustainability through the generosity and innovation of local businesses.
Building on a Longstanding Commitment to Children and Families
Webfoot’s commitment to MountainStar is nothing new. Over the years, the company has demonstrated an extraordinary dedication to strengthening families and keeping children safe through creative fundraising, generous in-kind contributions, and hands-on community engagement.
Through its Carving for Kids event, Webfoot has helped raise awareness and support for MountainStar’s mission, bringing the community together around a shared commitment to local children and families.
That generosity has also extended to MountainStar’s signature fundraising event, Birdies 4 Babies Golf & Gala, where Webfoot has donated $12,000 worth of home improvement projects to the live auction two years in a row. These auction packages have helped generate critical funding for MountainStar’s therapeutic early childhood programs, home visiting, and family support services.
Webfoot has also been a familiar presence on the golf course, serving as the tournament’s only on-site vendor outside of food and beverage providers. Their participation reflects a commitment that goes beyond financial contributions, with team members showing up, engaging with supporters, and helping make the event a success.
“Webfoot has been an incredible partner to MountainStar for many years,” said Staley Slaughter, Development Director at MountainStar Family Relief Nursery. “From Carving for Kids to their generous contributions and involvement in Birdies 4 Babies, they’ve consistently found creative and meaningful ways to support our mission. What makes this new partnership with PIE so exciting is that it builds on that generosity by creating an ongoing source of support through expenses Webfoot is already paying. It’s another example of how businesses can make a lasting difference for children and families.”
Now, through its partnership with PIE, Webfoot is taking that commitment one step further by making charitable giving part of its everyday business operations.
By transitioning its QuickBooks payment processing and mobile phone services through PIE, Webfoot is expected to generate approximately $4,000 annually in recurring contributions to MountainStar, while also saving thousands of dollars in operating expenses.
PIE directs 50% of its brokering margin to the nonprofit selected by each participating business, transforming routine operating expenses into sustainable charitable support without increasing cost or complexity for the business.
“We’ve been huge supporters of MountainStar for many years. Keeping kids safe and families strong is as local as it gets,” said Scott Johnson, General Manager at Webfoot. “Making recurring donations out of bills we have to pay anyway is the easiest thing we’ve ever done for them.”
Together, these efforts demonstrate the many ways businesses can invest in their communities, from traditional fundraising and donated services to innovative partnerships that generate support year after year.
A New Approach to Sustainable Giving
For 25 years, MountainStar has worked alongside Central Oregon families to prevent child abuse and neglect through therapeutic early childhood programs, home visiting, and wraparound family support.
As the only organization in Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties providing this combination of specialized prevention services for vulnerable young children, MountainStar serves more than 300 children and their families annually across five Central Oregon locations.
Families participating in MountainStar programs often navigate significant challenges, including housing instability, food insecurity, mental health concerns, and other stressors. Early intervention and consistent support help families build resilience, strengthen relationships, and create safe, nurturing environments where children can thrive.
Sustaining these services requires strong community partnerships and dependable funding.
“At MountainStar, we know that strong communities are built through lasting partnerships,” said Slaughter. “For 25 years, local businesses have played an important role in helping us strengthen families and keep children safe. As we look toward our next 25 years, innovative approaches like PIE offer exciting opportunities to diversify our funding and create more predictable, sustainable support for the children and families who depend on our services.”
Unlike traditional fundraising campaigns or one-time donations, PIE’s model creates recurring contributions through everyday business transactions, giving nonprofits an additional source of support they can budget for year after year.
Local Innovation, Regional Impact
Founded in Bend, Purpose In Expenses (PIE) was created around a simple idea: businesses should be able to support the causes they care about through the expenses they already pay.
By helping companies evaluate and procure services such as payment processing, wireless plans, internet, software, payroll, and other operating essentials, PIE generates charitable contributions from its own brokering margin without adding costs to participating businesses.
“Giving Tuesday is a wonderful day, but it is one day,” said Jamie Bianchini, PIE Co-Founder and CEO. “Almost every business in Central Oregon buys internet, phones, payment processing, and software whether they want to or not. We built PIE so every one of those bills funds a local nonprofit, at the same cost or less. That turns one day of giving into 365 — and Bend is proving it works.”
Since launching its first local business partnerships in 2021, PIE has grown to include 21 Central Oregon businesses turning everyday operating expenses into ongoing support for local nonprofits. Participating businesses include Subaru of Bend, Pahlisch Homes, Ruffwear, Tower Theatre, and Kirby Nagelhout Construction, with contributions supporting organizations such as Family Access Network (FAN), Boys & Girls Club of Bend, NeighborImpact, and Bend-La Pine Education Foundation. Together, PIE’s Central Oregon members generated approximately $61,000 in nonprofit support in 2025 and are on pace to contribute $74,000 in 2026—all through expenses businesses are already paying.
For MountainStar and Webfoot, this partnership demonstrates how an established relationship between a local business and nonprofit can grow into something even more impactful through innovation and shared purpose.
An Invitation to the Central Oregon Business Community
As the holiday giving season approaches, MountainStar, Webfoot Home Improvements, and PIE hope their partnership inspires other Central Oregon businesses to explore new ways to invest in the communities they serve.
The opportunity extends far beyond a single organization or cause. By reconsidering how they manage everyday operating expenses, businesses can help create ongoing support for nonprofits addressing some of the region’s most pressing needs.
“One of the things we love most about this partnership is its potential to grow,” said Slaughter. “Imagine the collective impact if more Central Oregon businesses turned expenses they already have into meaningful support for local nonprofits. It’s an opportunity to strengthen our entire community, one business at a time.”
As MountainStar celebrates 25 years of prevention, partnership, and community support, this collaboration serves as a reminder that philanthropy doesn’t always require a new fundraising event or an additional donation. Sometimes, it simply requires looking at everyday business differently.
Central Oregon businesses interested in learning more about Purpose In Expenses and opportunities to support local nonprofits can visit purposeinexpenses.com. To learn more about MountainStar’s mission and programs, visit mtstar.org.
