The Latino Community Association Gets Grant To Help Close Funding Gap
For so many nonprofits, the pandemic has caused a funding nightmare for their organizations. Annual fundraisers that bring in key funds have had to be canceled, events had to be postponed, and in some cases, funds spent on those events could not be recovered. And if a nonprofit cannot meet it’s funding goals, that could lead to a disruption in services to communities.
In June The Latino Community Association received a $25,000 grant from Oregon Community Foundation in order to fill the funding gap left open by a cancellation of the organization’s biggest funding event, Gala de Oro.
These grant funds will go towards the LCA’s mission for 2020 which is helping to provide financial support to laid-off immigrant workers. The Gala de Oro, which would have celebrated the 20th anniversary of the LCA was expected to bring in over $80,000 to support this mission of helping workers. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregon Governor Kate Brown shut down all public gatherings through September, which forced the LCA to cancel their event for this year, leading to a major gap in funds.
Brad Porterfield, LCA’s Executive Director spoke on the impact that these grant funds will have:
We have spent a fair amount of energy considering alternatives to raise the revenue we budgeted to bring in at our gala. But they all required either risking the health of our supporters and staff at a smaller event or learning to go virtual. By far, the best option has been receiving operating support from foundation partners, like the Oregon Community Foundation, to fill that gap. Now we can spend our energy on direct relief to families and adapting our programs and services to fit this new environment.”
The Latino Community Association also provides important services to Latino immigrants in central Oregon and acts as a connecting point for questions, translation, and other essential community-based services. These include having important letters translated, assistance with making phone calls, and negotiating payment plans.
The difficulties facing the Latino Community Association are shared by many nonprofits. Most have sought out grant funding and they have turned to our grant search engine to find grants and funders that will assist their organizations.