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Mar 02 , 2010
Kids in foster care and families in need are just a few of the people in our service territory to see the benefit of the first grants from the Avista Foundation for 2010.
We want to give you a brief look at two of the programs the foundation is supporting.
Children in foster care in the Greater Spokane area will benefit from an expanded volunteer mentoring program supported by a $2,000 grant to the non-profit Olive Crest organization. The program recruits, trains and supports volunteers who tutor and mentor foster and adoptive children.
Carol Plischke, area director for Olive Crest told us that the majority of the foster children they work with have encountered abuse, neglect and other challenges in their short lives. They are often behind in school and need the direct support a tutor or mentor can provide, not only to keep up with their studies, but to eventually graduate from high school. She said that through the involvement of community volunteers, this program addresses the need for quality mentors and tutors for foster children and provides opportunities for others to give back to their community in meaningful ways. More information on Olive Crest is available at www.olivecrest.org/pnw.
Over in Coeur d’Alene the St. Vincent de Paul H.E.L.P. (Helping Empower Local People) Center is located in the former Coeur d’Alene Library Building. It received a $5,000 grant this quarter from the Avista Foundation to support programs helping the area’s low income and homeless individuals and families. The first-of-its kind in Idaho pilot project is a one-stop location for meals, job and life skills training, legal counseling, child and family advocacy services, parenting classes and more.
Jeff Conroy, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul, told us that the H.E.L.P. program is a collaboration of state agencies, the city of Coeur d’Alene and other non-profits that brings vital services together in one place to help some of the most vulnerable individuals and families in our community. He said that the services they are able to provide help others to help themselves, and this fits well with Coeur d’Alene’s 10-year plan to end homelessness.” Read more about St. Vincent de Paul at http://stvincentdepaulcda.org/c5/help.
In all just over $14,000 was distributed from the Avista Foundation during the first quarter. In addition to Olive Crest and St. Vincent de Paul, grant recipients included Mid-City Concerns, Lilac Services for the Blind, Community Frameworks and Center Pointe in Spokane. The Foundation also made in-kind donations of gently used laptops to the YMCA in Medford, Oregon, and to KSPS Public Television in Spokane.
The Avista Foundation, established in 2002 as a private, corporate foundation, focuses its giving on grants that strengthen communities and enhance the quality of life for people served by Avista Utilities in eastern Washington, northern Idaho, southern Oregon and Sanders County, Montana. The foundation focuses its giving in the areas of:
• Education – K-12 education particularly in the fields of science, math and technology; and higher education including scholarships,
• Vulnerable and limited income populations – providing assistance to those on limited incomes and support for initiatives to reduce poverty,
• Economic and cultural vitality – supporting projects that help communities and citizens to grow and prosper.
Feb 05 , 2010
If you read The Spokesman-Review this morning you might have seen that the Spokane County United Way campaign wrapped up to a great success. $4.7 million raised. Employees at Avista have a particular interest in United Way and always have a robust internal campaign, and our CEO Scott Morris has been the overall campaign chairman for the last two years.
The 4 percent increase in giving this year – a remarkable number – is a testament to the community we live in. As a personal contributor to United Way, let me give my small thanks to everyone who donated.
Feb 01 , 2010
My feet have stopped hurting. I got a little rest, and I now have a little perspective on Avista’s 2010 Energy Fair held last Saturday. It was great! Some 325 people of all ages and interests came through the Lair Student Center at Spokane Community College from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. They talked with Avista staff and our community partners about topics that ranged from installing energy saving door sweeps to filing for earned income tax credits. We were very pleased to partner with Community Colleges of Spokane for this first annual event. Also attending and providing valuable information were staff members from SNAP, Work Source Spokane and the CASH Coalition.
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Camille shows how to help insulate
drafty windows. | One of the biggest hits of the day was the interactive singing and dancing program from Wattson, our energy watchdog and his friend Edison. It was so fun to see the kids – their parents and a few Avista staffers – singing and dancing right along with the big dog and his pal, learning energy efficiency tips at the same time.
It warmed my heart to see a family relaxing around a table in the Lair Café, talking about the Wattson activity sheet the kids colored. Or catching bits of conversation from the older couple who discussed which lamp in their home would get the free CFL bulb they received at the fair.
A little excitement was in the air at least once an hour, when door prize winners were announced. And a lot of excitement followed the announcement of the two grand prize winners. Avista House Warming certificates, cozy blankets, and other energy-saving goodies were the coveted prizes.
All in all, I thought the fair was a wonderful success. Attendees told us the information was very helpful and they appreciated the free samples they received after each demonstration. We learned some things that will make it even better next year and we’re looking forward to it.
Jan 06 , 2010
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Avista workers help collect
ospreys for banding as part
of a restoration project. | Post by Anna Scarlett
Recently, the Avista Foundation donated $2,500 to Birds of Prey Northwest for the construction of an eagle flight cage at the organization’s raptor rehabilitation facility near St. Maries, Idaho. In a few months, Avista employees led by Bob Beitz, Operations Manager for St. Maries and Kellogg, will set the poles and help build the flight cage.
It’s not the first time Avista has worked with Birds of Prey Northwest and its president/founder, Janie Fink. In fact, Fink has partnered with our own line workers in the protection and rescue of raptors.
“Several years ago we reached out to Jane to help us with problems we’d been having with osprey on our lines,” Beitz said.
Fink initially educated employees on raptors, and from there, the relationship continued. On several occasions, our St. Maries and Kellogg line crews have assisted her in collecting and banding baby ospreys as part of an osprey restoration program she leads.
This fall, Fink approached Beitz, who serves on the Avista Foundation Board of Directors, about a donation to Birds of Prey Northwest to update the rehab facility. An injured bird must go through physical therapy to treat its injury and build strength and flexibility for its return to the wild; this therapy includes flight exercise and flight tests. But the current aviary used for the flight exercise is too small for an eagle’s large wingspan, which can reach up to 8 feet wide for an adult.
Avista gave Birds of Prey Northwest $2,500, which, along with a pole donation from McFarland Cascade, will help Fink get the supplies to build the new cage. The flight cage will accommodate the largest raptor she cares for, but will be used to exercise all the birds.
Injured bird now Avista’s namesake
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Avista is a juvenile American
bald eagle with a damaged
wing. | During the grant process, Beitz visited the rehab facility, and as Fink was walking him through, a young American bald eagle drew their attention. The eagle, an adolescent that hasn’t matured enough to get its yellow-beak and white head, has a bad wing and can’t fly – it will be a permanent resident of the facility. Fink mentioned she hadn’t yet named the eagle.
Beitz suggested “Avista.”
“She looked at me and said ‘I think there was a reason we were waiting to name this eagle,’” he said.
So the young raptor became Avista. Avista joins Beauty, a bald eagle that lost her upper beak after she was shot by a poacher in Alaska, and who has since been fitted with a prosthetic beak so she can eat and preen, as well as various owls, hawks, falcons and ospreys either living at or being rehabilitated at the facility.
While her rehab facility is not open to the public, Fink, a raptor biologist and falconer, is currently seeking funding to build the Northwest Birds of Prey Center, a public education and raptor rehab center that will be located near Lake Coeur d'Alene.
Dec 22 , 2009
Have you finished your holiday shopping yet? Is your home filled with lights and the fragrant smells of fresh baked goodies? So much of what we do to celebrate our winter holidays is centered on home, friends and family. You build traditions that are passed from generation to generation, and sometimes it takes extra effort to make sure the traditions are carried out each year.
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KREM's Tom Sherry recieves a
check from Avista and Avista's
employees for Tom's Turkey Drive. | During this season of giving, Avista is doing its share of year-end donations. They cap a year in which some $1.2 million was given to non-profit organizations in the cities and towns in the three states we serve. This tradition of annual giving is deeply rooted in our company.
Here are just a few examples. Just this month, some $21,000 in grants went out to 46 food banks in some of the smallest communities that we serve, including Warden, Connell, Addy and Valley, Wash., Priest River and Athol, Idaho, and La Grande, Ore. Each donation will be leveraged by food bank staff to bring many times its value and will provide nutritional food for those who are hungry.
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Click the image above to watch the
United Way Day of Action this fall. | Spokane’s Second Harvest Food Bank is on our donation list this year, too. In addition to our year-end donation, hands-on action is one of our favorite things to do. So, at this year’s United Way campaign kick-off nearly 50 Avista employees, including Avista CEO Scott Morris, sorted, bagged and distributed food for several hundred recipients at a distribution site in mid-town Spokane. These same efforts go on in Coeur d’Alene, in Lewiston, in Medford and many, many other locations - whether it is to fill a needy family’s freezer with meat or to gather clothing for women working toward self-sufficiency or filling backpacks with school supplies so kids can go to school with the tools they need to learn. It’s what we do, because it’s the way we are – the employees of Avista.
We are in partnership with our company. As employees, we gave $6,250 to Tom’s Turkey Drive, and when it was matched dollar-for-dollar by our company, the $12,500 benefitted more than 830 families at Thanksgiving. We gave nearly $15,000 to Project Share during our employee campaign in December, shattering our $10,000 goal. Project Share provides emergency energy assistance to the growing number of families in need in our region. We lead the way in employee giving to the United Ways in the communities we serve. And we give of our time to the non-profit groups that mean the most to us – some 45,000 hours of volunteering in 2009.
Okay, I’m boasting, but I’m proud. I’m proud to work at a company that has a deeply rooted belief in giving back to the communities we serve. I’m proud of the company that encourages and supports employee volunteerism in the communities where we live. I’m proud of the extra effort our company takes to make sure that the Christmas Bureau gets $10,000 and Fresh Start, a warming center in Coeur d’Alene, gets $5,000 to help the homeless and mentally ill when the frigid temps start to descend upon us. I’m proud of the support we give each year to education and economic development and those most vulnerable among us.
In my time at Avista, I have come to know what it is to walk our talk. It is our tradition, and we work hard to make sure that it is observed year after year. No matter what holiday you celebrate this time of year, I hope you will join us in celebrating a season of giving to others. Happy Holidays.
Dec 09 , 2009
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Mousetrap cars on display. |
When you think of alternatively-powered cars you might think of solar, natural gas, or even hybrid-electric, but I bet mousetraps don’t come to mind. Unless you’re from Kettle Falls, Wash., where they’ve got the mousetrap car down to a science. A science project that is.
Shane Heideman, who teaches science at Kettle Falls Middle School, designed a semester-long project to help students learn the basics of energy and get them thinking about how alternative resources can help decrease greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.
When Avista was approached by the school to take part in the project, we welcomed the opportunity to partner with the community and help support science education.
Approximately 120 7th and 8th graders, working in teams of 3-4, were given the assignment to develop, construct and market an alternatively-powered car. The only requirements were that the car be built using a mousetrap as the propellant, and that it be able to move three meters under its own power. Teams also had to develop a tri-fold marketing brochure and be ready to race their cars at the end of the project.
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A mousetrap car shoots across the
gym floor. An Avista employee
records the time. | We helped provide information for the students’ research, speaking to them about our resource mix and how we make our renewable energy. We also showed them our Sun Car.
Student teams put in several weeks of working on the cars and brochures, and their hard work culminated in a race and brochure contest in late November. Avista joined in the fun by providing a guest judging panel and prizes to the teams with the best entries. The teams with the fastest cars in three rounds won cash prizes to split among team members.
The students were excited about their awards and proud of their hard work, and we had a great time helping out on the big day.
Nov 10 , 2009
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Avista Utilities President Dennis
Vermillion presents Larry Stuckart,
Executive Director of SNAP with a
donation from the Avista Project
Share Fund. | Today Avista donated $200,000 to its Project Share Fund for energy assistance to residents in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. This is money the company donates to SNAP and other community action agencies, which turn around and give one-time emergency energy assistance to families in need during the winter heating season.
There are a few reasons why this donation – and this year – are significant. According to the community action agency directors who attended the check presentation today, their agencies are expecting an increase in assistance requests of around 40 percent. Many of the requests are coming from individuals who have never needed to request assistance, but have fallen on hard times due to job loss or other circumstances. Even those who are newly employed are feeling the pinch because they may not have received their first check yet.
Also significant is that this donation is not for individuals using a certain type of fuel – or even Avista customers. It’s for those in need in our communities, regardless of their fuel source or utility.
“Avista and our employees have a strong commitment to our communities and to the residents who find themselves in difficult circumstances. Our energy assistance programs, including Project Share, are important parts of our community partnership,” said Dennis Vermillion, president of Avista Utilities, in a news release.
If you would like to support Project Share this year, you can add the amount you want to donate to your energy payment and write that amount in the Project Share line of your utility bill. You can also donate directly here. All the money you donate goes directly to community action agencies. Avista just serves as the conduit. Today’s $200,000 donation is from Avista and did not include any donations customers made via their utility bills.
In addition to Project Share, several other programs for qualifying customers needing energy assistance are either sponsored or administered by Avista, including the Low Income Rate Assistance Program (LIRAP) for customers in Washington and Oregon. Under the LIRAP Program, funds collected from customers through a specific dollar amount approved by the state commissions are provided directly to community action agencies to assist customers with their energy bills. The company also sponsors programs such as the Customer Assistance Referral and Education Service (CARES), Senior Energy Conservation Workshops and, in Washington, the Senior Energy Outreach Program.
Sep 30 , 2009
The Spokane County United Way campaign kicked off about a week ago with the United Way Day of Action. The 2009 campaign goal of $4.8 million was announced amid a flurry of volunteer activities by employees of Avista and many other companies around the Spokane area. Check out the video above for a look at the campaign kickoff and what the Day of Action was all about.
Sep 24 , 2009
Last week we kicked off the Spokane County United Way campaign with the United Way Day of Action. One of the events on the schedule was a mobile food bank hosted by the Second Harvest Food Bank at the Salvation Army in Spokane. Avista CEO Scott Morris along with employees from Avista, Premera and the United Way campaign cabinet helped distribute vegetables, milk, juice, salad greens, bread and rolls, and a dessert to more than 125 families over about three hours.
During a break from the event, Morris, who is the Spokane County United Way chair for the second year in a row, took a few minutes to share his thoughts on the United Way campaign, what it means to our community and on Avista’s involvement.
This video is raw, uncut footage and please pardon the color levels (I’m still working that out!) The video will open in a new window.
More info
Sep 21 , 2009
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Avista employees sort and box thousands and thousands of apples during the United Way Day of Action on Sept. 18 at the Second Harvest Food Bank. The event helped kick off this year’s Spokane County United Way campaign. | On Friday I attended this year’s kickoff event for the Spokane Country United Way campaign held at the Second Harvest Food Bank near downtown Spokane. Avista and its employees have long been supporters of United Way. For the second year in a row the Spokane County campaign chair is Avista CEO Scott Morris, which certainly has a lot of Avista employees even more tuned into the campaign this year.
During the event a few facts about the Spokane area really struck me. First – one in three children in our area don’t graduate from high school. One in five Spokane children lives in families experiencing poverty. Finally, child abuse rates around here are almost double the Washington state average. The United Way is focusing its efforts on helping improve the lives of the people in our area through its partner agencies and hopefully improving upon these statistics.
This year’s goal is to raise $4.8 million for the Spokane County United Way. Avista is a pacesetter company, and combined with employee donations, has already contributed $361,000 of the $610,000 raised in early campaigns.
The kickoff event was followed by the United Way Day of Action. Roughly 150 volunteers from nine companies participated, including 38 Avista employees who worked at Second Harvest and a mobile food bank at the Salvation Army. I shot some video at the events and will post one soon.
The point of mentioning Avista and its employee’s volunteer work isn’t to give us a pat on the back, but to recognize that there are great needs in the communities we live in and that each of us can do something to help improve the lives of those around us. Our employees donate around 50,000 hours of community service work each year – just because it’s the right thing to do. Volunteering your time or donating to a cause you believe in is one way that you can make a difference as well.
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