Meyer Trust grant will help keep Bend’s LOFT open

The Meyer Memorial Trust’s board of trustees announced Monday they awarded three grants totaling more than $435,000 to three Central Oregon nonprofits at their March program meeting.

The largest of the three, worth $176,000, went to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Oregon to help construct a new community center, which members will be able to use for recreation, fitness, sports, arts programming and other activities.

The others include $159,500 to the Deschutes Basin Land Trust and $100,000 to J Bar J Youth Services.

The LOFT (Living Options for Teens) shelter on Bend’s Westside had been threatened with closure after a technical snafu cost them federal funds several months ago.

But Operations Manager Mel Parker said Tuesday that with private donations and the Meyer Memorial Trust “bridge funds,” “wewill keep our doors open!” He said J Bar J Youth Services again will be applying for federal funds later this spring.

The grants bring the total amount awarded in Central Oregon since the Meyer Memorial Trust began operating in 1982 to nearly $20 million.

Meyer Memorial Trust is one of the largest private foundations in Oregon, with assets of approximately $707 million.

The Board of Trustees — which includes Debbie Craig, John Emrick, Orcilia Ziga Forbes, George Puentes and Gerry Pratt — meets monthly to make grants.

March Grants:

Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Oregon, Bend

Awarded: $176,000

To help construct a new center community members use for recreation, fitness, sports, arts programming and other activities

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Deschutes Basin Land Trust, Bend

Awarded: $159,500

To hire a project manager and address other priority capacity and infrastructure needs

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J Bar J Youth Services, Bend

Awarded: $100,000

To support the Loft, a transitional homeless youth program serving Central Oregon