Clubs to Create Stand Together Assistance Fund
This is a time when communities need to pull together. The Portland Timbers and Thorns FC are setting a great example … Doing it Right.
The Portland Timbers and Thorns FC have announced today a number of community initiatives to assist staff members and individuals in our area affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the immediate initiatives undertaken by the Timbers and Thorns FC to assist our community include:
- Peregrine Sports has created and funded a Stand Together Assistance Fund to help part-time staff get through this uncertain time. This fund will assist fan experience staff and merchandise staff, among others, by paying them for games missed due to cancelation. Details of the fund will be communicated to affected staff next week.
- A monetary contribution to the Oregon Community Fund’s Oregon COVID-19 Pooled Fund.
- In partnership with Park Provisions, the donation of approximately 1,000 pounds of perishable food, bread, produce and other food items to Life UP, a non-profit focused on reducing hunger for low-income residents of Northwest and Downtown Portland.
- Timber Joey to host virtual children’s reading sessions to homebound schoolkids every Tuesday and Thursday. The sessions will be aired on YouTube, the Stand Together Instagram Live feed and both clubs’ Facebook pages.
- Delivery of gratitude packages to Providence healthcare workers.
- Staff and their families to write notes and greeting cards to seniors who receive Meals on Wheels, and to healthcare workers to show our appreciation of their selfless efforts.
Through the Timbers’ community outreach platform, Stand Together, the team is committed to furthering its community mission to harness the power of sport to improve the lives of children and families in the region through targeted programs, deep partnerships and philanthropic giving.
In case you missed it: Statement from Portland Timbers and Thorns FC CEO Merritt Paulson on COVID-19 and message to Portland community
The COVID-19 pandemic is uncharted waters for all of us. Every day we have learned something new and been presented with a different set of challenges. To say this is, and will continue to be, a rapidly evolving situation would be an understatement.
I would like to take a moment to provide you all with both a sense of how the Timbers & Thorns are handling the situation, as well as offer a message to the broader Portland community.
For the Timbers & Thorns, through all the change, we continue to be guided by the following constants:
- Get the facts from the experts. We have been in lock-step with local and national health authorities from day one.
- Work as team with our league leadership. Both MLS and the NWSL have been proactive and superb in their response to COVID-19
- Communicate, communicate, communicate. Timbers & Thorns employees, along with our respective leagues and the expert health authorities, are in constant contact and all new information is being shared swiftly and transparently
- Keep a steady hand. It is natural to be nervous during times like these. But a calming presence coupled with good information is the best antidote to panic.
Starting today, our organization will be working remotely when possible. When we need to leave the home, we will be practicing safe spacing and following all best-practice guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19 and #flattenthecurve. We are well aware many of you are stuck at home and our content team is brainstorming many creative ways to keep you connected to the clubs. Our teams/players are following all league protocol while they remain in market anticipating a safe return to their seasons.
To read the rest of CEO Merritt Paulson on COVID-19, please click here
