Dog Park Water Fountain Fundraiser

WE DID IT!

Thanks to the tremendous effort and commitment from Wilshire Park  dog lovers, Commissioner Carmen Rubio, Portland Parks & Recreation and the community we have crossed the finish line in our fundraising efforts to add a water source to the off-leash dog area at Wilshire Park!

Together we raised over $17,000 of the estimated $22,000 goal. Commissioner Carmen Rubio and Portland Parks and Recreation are committed to moving this project forward and will cover the remaining costs to install a spigot fountain in the dog off-leash area.

So many people donated money and time to make this happen. Big thanks and tail wags to individual donors and businesses including Pip’s Dougnuts, Green Dog Pet Supply, Wild Pet Provisions, Pets on Broadway, Blackbird Wine Shop, Coco Donuts, Tacovore, Steeplejack Brewing Co., Pig Sauce BBQ, Tomorrow’s Verse, McPeet’s, and so many more.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We want to hear from you.  What do you want to see as the next improvement project?  Updating the kids playground? Bringing back the splash pad? Fence the dog park? Message  Board for community event postings?

Email us at friendsofwilshirepark@gmail.com

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?

Take part in monthly FoWP meetings These meetings currently take place via zoom at 7pm on the second Wednesday of each month. Send an email to friendsofwilshirepark@gmail.com for an invite and link.

We need volunteers and creative fundraising ideas. Is that you? Contact Mary Roney (maryroney643@gmail.com)

Do you know a local business that might be able to contribute (in-kind or cash)? Contact Gary Hancock (outside503@aol.com)

Do you have a skillset that would contribute to the The Friends of Wilshire Park? (photographer, artist, screen printer, web designer, screen-printing)  Contact Mary Roney (maryroney643@gmail.com) or Kelly Thompson (kellydery@icloud.com)

 

 

Native Plant Talk Saturday 4/24

Native Plant Talk at Wilshire Park, 10 AM, Saturday April 24
Join Willow Elliott, President of the Portland Chapter of the Oregon Native Plant Society for a Native Plant “NatureScaping” talk at Wilshire Park.
4116 NE 33rd Avenue, Portland
10 – 11:30 AM, Saturday April 24

Walk around the perimeter of the “NatureSpace” planting at Wilshire Park to hear about the environmental benefits and rewards of including northwest native plants in your home or business landscape. Top among benefits is food and shelter for insect pollinators, the powerhouses of food production in our environment. Other benefits of gardening with native plants include their adaptability, low maintenance, and low water consumption. And they’re beautiful! Contact Willow at npsopdxchapter@gmail.com for more information.

Please wear a mask.

Service Project This Saturday

Join us this Saturday at 1 pm to help distribute wood chips around the off-leash area. We’ll meet at the northeast corner of the park (Skidmore & 37th). Bring a hard tined rake, work gloves, and a water bottle. Please wear a mask and observe 6 feet of social distancing. This event can count toward community service requirements.

Playground Fundraiser Report

All of the Friends of Wilshire Park have been delighted to see the big difference between what the Wilshire Park playground looked like two years ago and what it is today. The improvements made include a new toddler play structure with a slide, a climbing frame that looks like an off-road vehicle, a new playhouse with seating inside, and a rabbit riding toy. These structures replaced the old wooden ones which, over their more than twenty years of honorable service, had been loved to death.

The old car and playhouse were Wilshire Park favorites for two generations of Portlanders, but it was time to replace them!

It took a lot of work, but the new items that have gone in kept the bright primary colors of the old equipment and were chosen to blend in with the park’s woodland feel. It’s good, sturdy, American-made equipment that will last at least 30 years, meaning that Wilshire Park will be a safe, happy place for every little child that comes there to play until today’s toddlers have grown-up children of their own.

The new car climbing frame is as popular with parents as it is with little ones.

As our goal of replacing worn-out equipment has been met, it’s time to give the community a report on how we raised the funds and how the money was spent. We have been delighted by the generosity of our neighbors and their commitment to providing all children with safe, fun outdoor spaces, and one way to thank them is to let them know how the money was spent. It’s also our hope that other grassroots groups can learn from what we did so that similar projects can be easier for them to accomplish.

How the Money Was Collected

The Friends didn’t accept cash, except at our fundraiser held at The Wiggle Room last summer. At that event, a few auction items were paid for in cash. Donors were given receipts, and copies of all receipts were delivered along with the cash directly to the Central Northeast Neighbors (CNN) office a few hours after the fundraiser ended. As a rule, we preferred donations to be given by check or donated online to a GoFundMe account. This is because there’s less paperwork for volunteers to do, as well as less nervousness about a volunteer being personally responsible for holding cash, if only for a few hours. The credibility of the Friends depends on being completely above board with any money they collect, so any cash handled was well documented and handed off to CNN as quickly as possible.

The Beaumont-Wilshire Business Association donated $500 to our efforts in order to allow us to spend $499 on the printing of donation envelopes by local company Morel Ink, which gave the Friends a large discount on the price as their way to support our efforts. The envelopes were then distributed in the March-April issue of the Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood Association newsletter. These envelopes were designed by Friends volunteers at no cost.

By spending a little money was spent on the envelopes, thousands of dollars came back in donations as the envelopes made it very easy for neighbors to put a check in the mail.

The Friends also held a fundraiser and auction at The Wiggle Room, and one Friends member opened her home on a rainy spring day for an Open House that offered hot homemade soup and bread. These events were not just important for bringing in money. They let the Friends and members of the community meet face-to-face, have some fun together, and remember why we work as hard as we do to improve our local park.

Who Donated

The cost of the car play structure, including manufacture, shipping, and installation, was $15,025. That may seem like a lot for a single playground item, but this is what high-quality, long-lasting equipment costs. Unlike inexpensive back yard equipment which will only see light use for a few years, the pieces that meet Parks Department standards are nearly indestructible and have foundations that reach several feet into the ground. They will last thirty years or more with minimal maintenance. The full amount for the car climbing frame was entirely funded by a single anonymous donor. The donor gave the money was to CNN, who then paid invoices provided by Portland Parks and Recreation.

The playhouse and rabbit rider cost $21,915 and was funded by 76 donors, almost all of whom were residents who live close to the park. The largest donation was $10,000 and the smallest was $10. One local kindergartner contributed the contents of her piggy bank, which contained an impressive $39 in small change.

Overhead costs included $499 in printing costs for donation envelopes. $25.30 was spent on stamps to mail letters from Central Northeast Neighbors to donors confirming their donation and informing them how to claim the donation on their taxes.

What We Learned

A very important thing we’ve learned is the value of building relationships with city employees. Portland Parks and Recreation staff are some of the most hard-working people we’ve met, and they show a lot of creative thinking and commitment to the people of Portland. They have to deal with negative feedback from some citizens, COVID-imposed furloughs, an uncertain budget in the present and future, and a system of hundreds of parks that all have their own needs. Each park in Portland is special to the neighbors who live near it, so we’ve appreciated the time Parks employees have been able to give us. The Friends try to show their appreciation by keeping the park clean, washing away graffiti, and asking Parks staff if there are tasks volunteers can perform. Our commitment to supporting the Parks department staff comes not just from our desire to have a beautiful neighborhood park, but also from our gratitude for the hard work they do.

We were able to work out a plan with Parks staff that allowed us to make improvements to the playground despite the fact that there was no staff time or budget at the city level for these projects. A major overhaul of the playground would have required a full plan and review by Parks staff. Given the current budget and staff constraints, this wasn’t possible. But such an expensive overhaul wasn’t needed anyway; we just needed some new toys for the kids. So instead of going for a needlessly expensive redesign of the playground, we just decided to replace each piece of equipment with something similar. This allowed our efforts to fall under “replacement” rather than “redesign.” The old car structure came out; a new car structure went in. Same with the playhouse. Neighborhood groups can save a lot of time, stress, and money by using this approach. It makes the jobs of Parks staff a lot easier and can take a project from “no-can-do” to “done and done.”

Equally important was building a relationship with the Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood Association and our local neighborhood coalition, the Central Northeast Neighbors. We’ve also built a friendship with the Alameda Neighborhood Association, because the boundary between Beaumont-Wilshire and Alameda is on 33rd Avenue, right on Wilshire Park’s western border. The Alameda Neighborhood Association contributed $1000 to our fundraiser, and many of the neighbors who made personal contributions live in the Alameda Neighborhood.

The Friends started out as a scrappy little group of neighbors. Its website, events, and any materials it produces are paid for by Friends members, and all work for the group is done by volunteers. The Friends are now an official committee of the BWNA. This has helped us spread the word about our efforts and get more support from the larger community. The Central Northeast Neighbors made all of our fundraising possible by acting as our fiscal sponsor. The Friends are not a registered charity, and we don’t have a bank account. If we collected money directly, donors would have not have been able to claim the money on their taxes. A member of the Friends would also have been left in the very uncomfortable position of personally collecting funds.

Grassroots groups that need to raise funds but don’t have the resources to become a registered charity can look into groups that can act as their fiscal sponsor. Sponsors will usually take a very small percentage of funds raised in order to cover the work hours of their staff members who collect and track the donations, but this is quite reasonable and much less expensive than becoming a registered charity. It also gives the group the peace of mind of knowing that all of the money will be handled properly and that donors can be confident about where the funds went as well as claim them on their taxes. Neighborhood associations are critically important to the civic health of Portland, and the Friends are very grateful for the steadfast support provided by both BWNA and CNN.

The Friends were very strict about only spending money when it was absolutely necessary. Every penny spent on flyers, posters, or our donation envelopes was a penny that wasn’t going toward new playground equipment, so it was important to be very strict about spending. The only money the group spent from donated funds went toward the donation envelopes, and this amount was covered many times over by the donations made by Friends members. Most of the effort that went into the envelopes could come from the time given by Friends members, from designing them to stapling them into the BWNA newsletters for distribution. The only thing that couldn’t be done by volunteers was to print the envelopes themselves, and the modest amount spent on the printing was well rewarded with community donations. As far as getting the word out in other ways, Friends members relied on social media, e-mail newsletters, and printing their own flyers at home to post at local businesses. These efforts had a high cost in time but a low financial cost to Friends volunteers.

NatureSpace in Spring

Play areas for children are still mainly closed, but the Wilshire Park NatureSpace has been a great place for kids to explore all season long. Should you visit the park, remember to keep a safe distance from other groups and bring along a mask. Right now you can see new growth on Oregon grape and watch the curling fronds of native ferns unfurl, or go slug hunting under a log. The fun of spring is still here!

Snow Day!

It doesn’t snow often in Portland, but when it does we make the most of it — even the dogs! These shots were provided by Friends member Katie Day.

Wilshire Park NatureSpace Native Plant List

The NatureSpace at Wilshire Park is a 10,000 square foot area landscaped exclusively with plants native to the Portland area. Many had specific uses by the First People living here in the area for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. All contribute importantly to the local ecosystem providing food and shelter for insects, birds and mammals. The list below gives the scientific and, when available, the common names of what is planted. The rock seating is columnar basalt from the Columbia Gorge.

This sign will soon be installed in the NatureSpace to help park visitors learn the names and purposes of each of the plants in this lovely native plant garden.


Understory Shade Mix
Bletchnum spicant (Deer Fern)
Epemedium rubrum (Red Barrenwort)
Mahonia repens (Creeping Oregon Grape)
Mianthemum stellatum (False Solomon Seal)
Vancouveria hexandra (White inside-out flower)
Gaultheria shallon (Salal)
Erythronium oregonum (Oregon fawn-lily)
Ploystichum munitum (Sword Fern)
Oregon oxalis (Three leaf clover)
Dicentra formosa (Bleeding Heart)

Mid-story Shade Mix
Acer cercinatum (Vine Maple)
Aruncus dioicus (Goats Beard)
Bletchnum spicant (Deer Fern)
Gaultheria shallon (Salal)
Oemleria cerasiformis (Osoberry)
Ploystichum munitum (Sword Fern)
Rubus spectabilis (Salmonberry)
Tellima grandiflora (Fringecup)
Vaccinium parviflorum (Red Huckleberry)

Mid-story Sun Mix
Achillea millefolium (Yarrow)
Eriophyllum lanatum (Oregon Sunshine)
Gaultheria shallon (Salal)
Helenium atumnale (Sneezeweed)
Lonicera involucrata (Bearberry honeysuckle)
Lupin latifolius (Broadleaf Lupin)
Mahonia aquifolium (Tall Oregon Grape)
Physocarpus capitatus (Ninebark)
Ribes sanguineum (Red Currant)
Vaccinium ovatum (Evergreen Huckleberry)

Trees
Pinus ponderosa (Ponderosa Pine)
Rhamnus purshiana (Cascara)

That was some good soup!

The Friends of Wilshire Park raised $500 at its open house held on February 1, all of which will go directly toward the cost of the new playhouse for the toddler area of the playground. New and old Friends met on a characteristically gloomy January day in Portland, but that just made the several varieties of homemade soup and loaves of hot bread all the more tasty.

We are so very close to reaching our fundraising goal for the playground. Completing the playhouse will make the toddler area even nicer than it was before, with all of the play features that generations of neighborhood kids have loved. If you weren’t able to make it out to our open house, feel free to drop by at our next group meeting or make a donation. All contributions are fully tax-deductible and go straight toward the park.