Philanthropy

MT HOOD VACATION RENTALS PHILANTHROPY

The business philosophy at Mt Hood Vacation Rentals and Meredith Lodging revolves around community, relationships and social responsibility. We work to integrate philanthropy, sustainability, diversity, human rights and responsible business practices into our daily culture. To echo this commitment to social responsibility in a broader, more universal scale, we donate funds to several charities each year. As a locally owned and operated small business working within the quaint and very special communities of the Villages of Mt Hood, we recognize our responsibility to give back locally and globally. We have selected these charities not only for their specific causes, but also because they do good work and are well-managed. It is our mission that the essence of community, relationships and social responsibility permeates not only our own company, but our community, society and humanity as a whole.

*MT HOOD VACATION RENTALS

Mt Hood Vacation Rentals is proud to have donated $48,996 in partnership with our vacation rental guests to these fine causes and charities as of December 2021. Ant Farm Autism Speaks Central City Concern Children’s Cancer Association Chris Dudley Foundation Clackamas Women’s Services Colon Cancer Foundation Doernbecher’s Childrens Hospital Go Red for Women Hoodland Community Christmas Basket Hoodland Neighborhood Missions Hoodland Senior Center Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Mt Hood Learning Center Mt Hood Cultural Center and Museum National Alliance on Mental Illness No Kid Hungry OHSU Family and Patient Support Services Oregon Community Rebuilding Fund Oregon Humane Society Rainbow Railroad Sandy’s Helping Hands St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Travel Oregon Forever Fund Veteran’s of Foreign Wars The charities listed below were chosen by the Mt Hood Vacation Rentals’ team members as their most important causes for giving in 2021.
 

ANT FARM

AntFarm in Sandy is a place for youth to achieve their dreams, find their passion and work as a community. Volunteers tutor, mentor, guide and inspire. The AntFarm works with youth via indoor classrooms and outdoor experiential learning, community gardens, the operation of a cafe, and Farmers’ Market, trail building, CommunityConnect assisting local seniors as well as many other programs. AntFarm is a community that is growing by leaps and bounds every day. AntFarm lives by the empowering words “The Might of One, The Power of Many”. Mt Hood Vacation Rentals donates all deposit cans and bottles (beer, soft drinks and water) left by guests in the vacation rentals to the AntFarm. As our guest, when you recycle, we appreciate that you separate the deposit containers from the other recyclables. AntFarm uses the proceeds to help pay the rent on the building that houses the support team, community center, classrooms and the cafe. Our entire team likes to help local charities and especially the AntFarm for all of the positive work they do with local youth.

CLACKAMAS WOMEN’S SERVICES

Clackamas Women’s Services provides critical services and support to domestic violence survivors and their families each year. By supporting CWS, it communicates to domestic and sexual violence survivors they are valued, and that the community cares for their safety and well-being. MHVR donates dozens of lightly used sheets and towels to women’s shelters and transitional housing for victims of domestic violence.

COLON CANCER FOUNDATION

The Colon Cancer Foundation and the American Cancer Society have joined forces on an initiative called 80% in Every Community, which challenges everyone to take a stand against one of the most preventable forms of cancer – colorectal cancer – by getting screened, choosing a healthy way of eating and being physically active. The Colon Cancer Foundation is a founding member of this nationwide movement to reach 80% screened for colorectal cancer. Many of your team members have been affected by colon cancer personally or with a close family member, making it important to do what we can to prevent colorectal cancer.

HOODLAND NEIGHBORHOOD MISSIONS

Neighborhood Missions is a community outreach program sponsored by Hoodland Lutheran Church responding to family needs by providing emergency food and financial assistance for heating supplies, medicine, utility payments, gasoline vouchers, transportation, and bus passes to people in temporary need. The food pantry is stocked with donated food that is available to anyone in need in the service area from Alder Creek to Government Camp. There is also an active firewood ministry for families who need assistance in heating their homes with woodstoves. Neighborhood Missions has been in existence for over 20 years evolving into a very dynamic group of people on the mountain serving their community. Everyone on the team at Mt Hood Vacation Rentals feels fortunate to be healthy, happy and living well. We enjoy giving to those in our community who need it most. We also donate non-perishable foods and item left behind by guests who do not choose to take them home.

HOODLAND SENIOR CENTER

Hoodland Senior Center is a non-profit organization designed to develop programs and provide opportunities that promote independent living for senior adults so they can age in place in the local Mt Hood community. Planned Monthly Trips for seniors include weekly activities and lunch, access to information about medical and legal assistance, transportation, equipment loan programs, home meal delivery and volunteer opportunities. Mt Hood Vacation Rentals donates funds to the Senior Center every year as well as purchasing items during fund-raising events. The past two years, we have purchased apple pies for our guests during the holidays. Many of our team members have family members who have benefited from the services of the Hoodland Senior Center and enjoy helping to keep this organization working for the seniors in our villages.
 

MT HOOD CULTURAL CENTER AND MUSEUM

The Mt Hood Cultural Center & Museum is located in Government Camp with the mission of strengthening community, fostering arts and letters, and protecting, stabilizing and showcasing all aspects of the history of Mount Hood. With interpretive exhibits, educational programming, and the arts, the Museum promotes an understanding of the shared history and challenges for the future. The Museum includes early exploration, pioneer history, natural history, forestry and the rich history of mountaineering, skiing, and the remarkable individuals that helped shape the history of the mountain. MHCCM is the conservator of the mountain and its people.

MT HOOD LEARNING CENTER

  Mt Hood Learning Center in Welches is the only preschool with a childcare center in Welches, serving the Hoodland Villages of Government Camp, Rhododendron, Zigzag, Welches and Brightwood. This non-profit organization runs on a shoestring budget and appreciates donations. The Mt Hood Learning Center provides every child with a quality enriched childhood experience, striving to create a safe, nurturing and developmentally appropriate environment in which children will develop school readiness skills but will also foster a passion for learning through a hands-on program here in the Welches Community. Their program furthers natural learning through creative play, singing, movement, story time, outside play and nature walks, preserving the gifts of childhood while preparing children to meet life with joy, enthusiasm and confidence. The Mt Hood Learning Center encourages children to satisfy their natural curiosity developing their lifelong passion for learning and discovery. Everyone on the MHVR team supports early childhood education especially with very limited resources in our small, rural community, we want to do our share to encourage and nurture the youngest residents in the Mt Hood area.

MT HOOD LION’S CLUB

  The Mt Hood Lions Club, a chapter of the Lion’s Club International, was founded May 11, 1951, and has been helping people thorough today under the motto, “We Serve”. The Mt Hood Lion’s Club encourages people who want to serve their community to join and continue the long-time tradition of helping people locally, regionally and worldwide. Locally, the Mt Hood Lion’s club supports Boy Scout Troop 173, Hoodland Fire District Volunteers, Hoodland Seniors, and Welches School and Sandy High School, sponsoring Reading is Fundamental at Welches Grade School, starting a reading club, equipping the Welches Middle School and providing two to four $1,000 Scholarships to Sandy High School Graduates. The Lion’s Club also assists those in need to obtain sight & hearing services. The Lion’s Club also participates in other worthy community service projects and helps raise funds for other charitable efforts in our local community. Trish’s Dad was an active member of the Lion’s Club and she has always appreciated the variety of community assistance they offer.

NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS

  NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. What started as a small group of families gathered around a kitchen table in 1979 has blossomed into the nation’s leading voice on mental health. Today, we are an association of hundreds of local affiliates, state organizations and volunteers who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need. Education: Offered in thousands of communities across the United States through NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates, education programs ensure hundreds of thousands of families, individuals and educators get the support and information they need. Advocacy. NAMI shapes national public policy for people with mental illness and their families and provides volunteer leaders with the tools, resources and skills necessary to save mental health in all states. Support: NAMI’s HelpLine allows personal responses to hundreds of thousands of requests each year, providing free referral, information and support—a much-needed lifeline for many. Leadership: Public awareness events and activities, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks, successfully fight stigma and encourage understanding. NAMI works with reporters on a daily basis to make sure our country understands the importance of mental health. Cari wants to shine more light on mental health awareness to help educate and to take the shame away from being able to talk about mental illness. On behalf of one of our homeowners with a family member with a lifelong mental illness, we are donating to the Clackamas County chapter of NAMI.

OREGON CANCER FOUNDATION

The Oregon Cancer Foundation mission is to empower, strengthen and sustain those impacted by cancer in our community through education, support and financial assistance by providing education and support through various classes and support groups. OCF also provides much needed financial assistance to survivors struggling in Oregon through their financial assistance program. The foundation provides these stopgap funds, so no patient has to choose between basic needs and optimal cancer treatment. Andy’s wife went through Breast Cancer treatment during the Covid pandemic. The meant that she could not work and the bills piled up. They appreciate an opportunity to help get some of the debts under control.

OREGON HUMANE SOCIETY

  The Oregon Humane Society rescues, heals and adopts more than 11,000 pets each year. OHS never places a time limit on how long cats, dogs or other pets stay at their shelter. OHS relies upon donations to support adoption, education and animal cruelty investigation programs. “End Petlessness. There’s a furry soulmate for everyone.” Founded in 1868 by noted humanitarian Thomas Lamb Eliot, OHS is the third-oldest humane society in the nation and the oldest in the West. Eliot initially established OHS to stop the neglect and abuse of draft animals. The mission expanded to include companion animals and, until 1933, orphaned children. OHS  adopts more animals from the Portland shelter than any other single-facility shelter on the West Coast. OHS puts no time limits on how long animals remain at the shelter—a pet stays available for adoption for as long as needed to find a loving home. If a pet in the care of OHS needs medical attention, our veterinary hospital provides the pet with same level of care you would want your own pet to receive. All of our team members are animal lovers and pet owners and most have adopted dogs and cats that needed homes. We want to be sure that any stray or lost animal will be well-cared for and find its forever home.

RAINBOW RAILROAD

Rainbow Railroad is a Canadian charitable organization that helps lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals escape violence and persecution in their home countries. Rainbow Railroad helps them get to safety. Inclusiveness is important to Hunter and he wants to be sure that people are not persecuted for who they are and that they can get to a safe environment

SANDY’S HELPING HANDS

Sandy’s Helping Hands is a hometown non-profit charity with the goal of connecting people in need with people who can help to build a better community. The goal is to connect local volunteers with families and individuals in need including a Sandy Emergency Assist Program to help families with urgent needs. Deb and her husband Steve have volunteered time to Sandy’s Helping Hands