PORTLAND, Ore. — Pacific Power’s charitable arm, the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning, has donated $64,000 to Portland programs that will help educate students at the university, high school, grade school and pre-kindergarten levels.

The grants are part of one of four annual cycles awarded by the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning for programs in the areas of education, health and human services, arts and culture, and civic and community betterment. So far in 2006, the foundation has awarded a total of $300,000 to 43 nonprofit education programs in Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

“Supporting organizations that foster learning is central to our foundation’s mission,” said Isaac Regenstreif, PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning executive director. “It’s also important to Pacific Power’s employees because so many of them volunteer their time in the SMART reading program, Junior Achievement and other important learning initiatives.”

The following Portland-area programs have received PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning grants:

SMART ( Start Making a Reader Today) reading program – The foundation made a significant two-year pledge to help children improve their reading skills. Since 1993, the foundation has invested more than $366,000 in SMART programs in north Portland, Medford, Coos Bay, Lakeview, Metolius and Warm Springs. More than 35 Pacific Power employees are SMART volunteers, and another 100 Pacific Power employees have donated their time in the past.

Junior Achievement Columbia Empire, Inc. – The foundation will sponsor 22 classroom programs in 2006. According to Junior Achievement, the number of teachers requesting a program exceeds demand, but the program still reaches 30,000 students in 200 schools in 44 districts throughout Oregon and southwest Washington.

Oregon Independent College Foundation – This program will assist deserving youth with scholarships, with preference given to those in financial need.

Schoolhouse Supplies – Pacific Power volunteers recently stuffed 621 backpacks full of donated school supplies for needy schoolchildren attending Woodlawn Elementary. The effort is part of Schoolhouse Supplies’ annual Tools for Schools drive, which encourages companies to adopt a school in a high-poverty area, and provide each student with a backpack full of supplies.

Concordia University – The Concordia Teacher Corps is a group of 30 volunteers who provide tutoring and mentoring support for K-12 students in north and northeast Portland.

Latino Network – Juntos Aprendemos, Spanish for “we learn together,” is a kindergarten readiness program that promotes early literacy for low-income Latino families with children ages 3 to 5. The project serves about 55 children and their parents at Rigler and Scott elementary schools in northeast Portland.

Open Meadow Alternative Schools – Project ESTEEM is a career-mentoring program that pairs mentors with 18 Open Meadow youth, ages 13 to 21, in a 10-month program to engage students in school, provide these at-risk youth a caring, responsible adult in their lives and prepares them to obtain and keep a job.

Portland Community College Foundation – The college’s Service to Community Scholarship Program provides tuition assistance in exchange for community service.

Portland State University Graduate School of Education – A partnership between the school and Friends of the Children provides a summer literacy tutoring program for at-risk youth.

Portland State University Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science  – The Oregon MESA pre-college academic program, based in the Maseeh College at Portland State University, engages 750 students, grades six to 12, in math, engineering, science and technology projects.

Saturday Academy – Saturday Academy engages motivated young people in hands-on, in-depth learning and problem solving by connecting them with community experts as instructors and mentors. Students explore a multitude of topics from science, engineering and technology to humanities and the arts. The foundation supported apprenticeships in Saturday Academy’s Science and Engineering 2006 Summer Symposium.

The PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning has a long history of supporting learning, investing $1 million in early childhood literacy initiatives. In Oregon, it launched the Project Optimize literacy program to help teachers successfully reach children who arrive at kindergarten needing an extra boost to become readers. For more information, visit  www.pacificorpfoundation.com .

Media inquiries: newsdesk@pacificorp.com