The Partnership to End Poverty (The Partnership), held its annual Power of Partnership luncheon last week to celebrate the many partners working together to reduce poverty in Central Oregon. The highlight of the event was the recognition given to five specific partners for their work in 2011.
Those 2011 honorees are
- Outstanding Partner in the Private Sector: South Valley Bank and Trust, presented to Linda Gill, Vice President & Regional Branch Administrator
- Outstanding Partner in the Nonprofit Sector: Living Hope Christian Center in Madras, presented to Jim Leach, Lead Pastor
- Outstanding Partner in the Public Sector: Mosaic Medical, presented to Megan Haase, Executive Director
- Person of Inspiration: Marty Betsch, Disaster Coordinator, St. Charles Home Health Services, Medical Lead for Project Connect and Project Mobile Connect
- Partner of Year: Crook County Open Campus Initiative, presented to Gary Goodman, chair of the Crook County Higher Education Advisory Council
“The work of The Partnership doesn’t happen without the support and cooperation of all of our partners,” says Scott Cooper, executive director for The Partnership to End Poverty. “We work with well over 300 different partners throughout the year. These awards highlight some of our most exciting partnerships in the past year, but they are only the tip of the iceberg. Central Oregon is particularly blessed with a nonprofits, agencies and businesses working to ensure that everyone has an equal chance to succeed.”
The theme of the yesterday’s luncheon was Courage, Hope and Inspiration. This theme points to the work being done by agencies and organizations helping the growing need in the region. It also honors those people who have struggled in the past but have had the courage and hope to get through to a more stable situation.
The Partnership works with over 300 organizations on projects to find solutions to the root causes of poverty. Partners come from the worlds of business, nonprofits, government, faith and education. The initiatives of The Partnership and its partners help Central Oregonians become overcome barriers, become economically stable and stay out of poverty. The Power of Partnerships is an annual event held in January that celebrates the work of everyone within the poverty-reduction realm.
The Partnership to End Poverty is a 501 (c) (3) organization dedicated to reducing poverty in Central Oregon, long term. The Partnership collaborates with Central Oregon’s wide range of socially conscious organizations (non-profit, for-profit and governmental, faith-based and education-oriented), with the goal of achieving more poverty reduction together than it could working alone. www.partnershiptoendpoverty.org.
