City Employees Celebrate Holiday with Charity Raffle

Employees of the City of Forest Grove celebrated the holidays by giving to our community. Each department provided a theme basket or item which was raffled at the City Holiday Buffet held on Wednesday, December 8, at the Light & Power Auditorium. The proceeds are given to a designated charity. The Family Resource Center was selected as our annual charitable recipient with the funds designated for students experiencing homelessness. This year’s raffle proceeds totaled $1,129.00 which was given to Alice Beggs, Forest Grove School District Title X Liaison.

Last school year, 140 students experienced homelessness in the Forest Grove School District. During September and October of this school year, 50 students have experienced homelessness with that number anticipated to increase. The Forest Grove School District’s Title X office works to provide educational support and basic necessities for students experiencing homelessness. They offer academic and tutoring opportunities, help with clothing and food, and refer students and families to community agencies to help meet their immediate needs. Title X liaison Alice Beggs stated, “ Students who change school tend to experience more difficulties compared to students who don’t change schools. Title X helps many students stay in the same school, receive free transportation and connect to services to help them succeed in school . Thank you to the City of Forest Grove employees for their support of students in tough situations!”

In these economic times, there are a lot of under-funded organizations that provide such crucial services to our community, and this is a wonderful way to share the holiday cheer. Last year, the City raffle contributed $1,038 to Public Safety Chaplaincy and in previous years over $700 to the Toys n’ Joy Drive and over $800 to the Oregon Food Bank.

City employees enjoyed sharing the spirit of the season with food and conversation at the buffet and bringing a toy for the Fire Department’s Toy Drive, as well as cheerfully competing for the raffle prizes. In addition to each department’s basket donation, other prizes were donated by individual employees, City vendors and Mayor Peter Truax.   For more information about the Title X program, go to the National Center for Homeless Education or contact Alice Beggs at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .