2023 Partnership Projects
Perrydale School Inclusive Playground Project: Perrydale School, a K-12 school located in rural Polk County near Amity, is building a new, larger all-abilities playground. A variety of play opportunities will be available for both students and children in the community, with many wheelchair friendly and able to be used by people with varying mobility needs both during school hours and after school. As a Diamond level sponsor, Maps contributed a $25,000 grant to the project and Maps employees plan to help with the build-out this summer, aiming for completion by the start of school this fall. The site of the future playground can be seen below.
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2022 Partnership Projects
United Way’s Good 360 Gifts In-Kind Project: Good 360 works with major retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, to source product donations that would otherwise end up in the landfill, and instead redistributes these goods to local nonprofits, public schools, and faith-based organizations who in turn give them to thousands of individuals in need each month. Starting small in 2019 with 25 organizations, they have now grown to over 250, and the number continues to grow each week. To boost reliability and increase capacity, the program needs a new box truck. Maps provided a $25,000 grant toward this vehicle purchase and is also volunteering monthly to help sort products. Look for the new Good 360 truck on the road in 2023 with the Maps Community Foundation logo on its side!
AWARE Food Bank: A $25,000 grant was provided to support the construction of Marion Polk Food Share’s new AWARE Food Bank facility to better serve Woodburn and outlying communities with hunger relief programs. AWARE provided food assistance and a lifeline to as many as 6,000 individuals per month during the pandemic and continues to serve about 4,600 people each month today. New construction will provide greater capacity and efficiency to distribute food in a centrally located space that will also offer a community resource hub to better serve Woodburn area clients. The project will be completed in September 2023.
Silverton All-Abilities Playground: Maps is proud to be the Title Sponsor of the Silverton Rotary’s new All-Abilities Park which will provide a safe, fun place to play and develop new skills for children of all abilities. The Park will be located adjacent to the swimming pool parking lot on the Silverton side of Silver Creek. We look forward to our Silverton area Maps members enjoying this new park and playground space. Check back for a photo of the completed park in 2023.
Boys and Girls Club – Epping Homestead Branch: An additional $25,000 grant was given to support the completion of the capital campaign for this new clubhouse in NE Salem across from our Chemeketa Branch. You can see more project details under the 2021 project list.
Salem Family YMCA: A $25,000 grant was given as year-two of our $50,000 pledge. The additional $25,000 help the Y to complete their beautiful new downtown facility in 2022. We are honored to have our name above the Community Resource Desk as community members enter the facility. You can see more project details under the 2021 project list.
Gilbert House Children’s Museum – Outdoor Discovery Play Area: MCF’s first Impact Partnership was given to the Gilbert House Children’s Museum in 2020 for their redesigned bubble exhibit—Bill’s Bubble Factory. We love what the Gilbert House offers to children and families in our community that inspires hands-on learning and interactive play. We are honored to contribute another $25,000 towards the rebuilding of their much-loved outdoor play area. The new design reflects thoughtful planning, with great effort put into designing play areas that are accessible for all. Rebuilding will begin in fall 2022 and is set to be completed before the sun comes out again for outdoor play in the spring.
Press Release: New Gilbert House Outdoor Play Area, with support from Maps Community Foundation
Center for Hope and Safety – HOPE Plaza: A $50,000 gift was given to this impactful community project located just down the street from our Maps Administrative Building and new Professional Center/High St. Branch. Being built on the site of the former Greyhound Station in downtown Salem, HOPE Plaza will generate housing, create opportunity, build community partnerships, and provide employment for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking. A portion of our gift will specifically fund the construction and furnishing of a 2-bedroom apartment, with Maps naming this unit as part of our larger gift. We plan to further develop our partnership by working with HOPE Plaza residents to open Maps accounts, participate in financial education classes, and more.
Salem Health Foundation’s - Families Matter Project: This valuable community project will add respite areas to the new emergency room waiting area at Salem Hospital, including an outdoor garden and gazebo, as well as an All-Faith’s Chapel. Community members utilizing the emergency room are often experiencing tremendous stress, and these new calming spaces will offer a restful break. MCF will contribute $10,000 to this project as part of a larger collaborative credit union gift.
2021 Partnership Projects
Family YMCA of Marion and Polk Counties: Given the Y’s long history in Salem, Maps is proud to be a key community partner in the construction of the new 51,000 square foot downtown facility set to open in 2022. It will include a new aquatics center, redesigned childcare and youth development rooms, expanded workout facilities, a new regulation size gymnasium, as well as a community café. The rooftop terrace and running track will be amazing! We know this new space will contribute to a thriving community for decades to come. Our $50,000 ($25,000 each in 2021 and 2022) gift reflects our commitment to community vibrancy.
Willamette Career Academy: The area’s newest Career Technical Education Center opened in Fall 2021 in the old Toys R Us location on Lancaster. Our $25,000 capital campaign contribution will bring more hands-on career technical education to our region—continuing our commitment to improving educational outcomes. When fully built out, WCA will offer six CTE programs including Health Services, Diesel Mechanics, Cosmetology, Manufacturing, Construction, and Information Technology—giving hundreds of rural students the opportunity to explore and engage in learning skills for high demand careers. Our Maps VP of IT is serving on the Industry Advisory Committee for the IT program that will open in 2022, and we look forward to having the IT classroom named for Maps.
Press Release
Boys & Girls Club of Salem, Marion and Polk Counties: MCF is proud to have given $25,000 toward the construction of the new Epping Homestead Boys and Girls Club Branch that will be located in NE Salem directly across from our Chemeketa Branch. The Clubhouse will serve up to 200 kids per day—providing tools and services to improve kids’ health (mental, dental, nutrition); educational support to help kids succeed in school; and opportunities for vulnerable kids and teens, including youth of color and low-income families, to build employable skills and improve life outcomes. The education classroom within the Club will be named for Maps and we look forward to being a long-term partner, providing both financial education and mentorship.
2020 Partnership Project:
Gilbert House Children’s Museum in Salem
Our first Impact Investment was a $25,000 contribution to the Gilbert House Children’s Museum in Salem for their new Bubble Exhibit, known as Bill’s Bubble Factory, and the new ADA accessible outdoor play area, Nature’s Workshop. The Gilbert House’s mission is to: “inspire children to learn through creative play” through interactive exhibits and engaging outdoor play spaces. Centrally located adjacent to Salem’s Riverfront Park, the Gilbert House welcomes over 95,000 visitors each year.
The Bubble exhibit, always a community favorite, was available from the Gilbert House’s opening in 1989 until a water leak forced it to close in 2012. Maps is proud to be one of the community partners that has brought back this wonderful hands-on exhibit.
The current Outdoor Discovery Area was built by over 6,500 volunteers in 18 days in 1998. An impressive community feat! A generation of children have enjoyed running, playing, and learning on this one-of-a-kind outdoor playground, but it reached the end of its life. The new Nature’s Workshop includes interactive exhibits and give children a natural outdoor play setting, while preserving the iconic Erector Set maze that children have loved climbing and sliding down for over twenty years. We look forward to seeing many generations of Maps members enjoy the Gilbert House and all it has to offer for years to come.
