What Is The History Of SnowCap?
In the mid 1960's, the basic life needs of many in East Multnomah County were not being met by any agency or organization. About 25 area churches stepped in to help fill the void felt by so many residents. SnowCap -- Suburban Neighborhoods Operation Witness Community Action Program -- was born on January 16, 1967.
The purpose of SnowCap was to discover the real needs in the area, communicate them, and assist residents, churches, and community leaders to meet those needs individually and cooperatively. The organization adopted a philosophy that "SnowCap will cross lines of race, religion, national origin, and economic status, hoping to coordinate and act as a barometer, correcting conditions which call for improvement."
The area covered by SnowCap was bounded by East 82nd Street, the Columbia River, and the Clackamas County line -- including Troutdale, Fairview, and Wood Village.
Originally three centers were set up. Rev. Wendall Jacobsen, pastor of Epiphany Lutheran was overall coordinator. SnowCap -- the church-community action program of the Greater Portland Council of Churches -- was born.
The three centers merged in 1968 and headquartered at Savage Memorial Presbyterian. SnowCap was run entirely by volunteers until 1969 when Sister Gemma Kennedy was voted in as full-time director. She was released indefinitely from her teaching assignment with the Franciscan Order, and served until 1979 when Jenny Steward became Director.
In 1977, SnowCap opened a Gresham office located at Trinity Lutheran which provided only food and informational/referral services.
By 1980 there were 39 actively participating churches. SnowCap gave away $86,400 worth of food and fed 12,350 people. Doug Rogers became Director in 1981.
By 1983 SnowCap was serving 36,000 people. Requests for help increased 155% over 1981, the last "normal" year on record.
In 1987 SnowCap celebrated its 20th anniversary, had 145 volunteers, one-full-time worker and 7 part-time workers.
In 1991 Judy Alley became Director. SnowCap's budget of approximately $200,000 included two full-time staff members and three workers on token stipends. 200 volunteers worked for SnowCap. Over 58,000 people were fed and half of those were children.
On SnowCap's 25th anniversary in 1992, more than one-half million people had been served by SnowCap.
By the 40th Anniversary, 1.4 million people had been served. SnowCap had a staff of 7 and a budget of $500,000. New programs included English language instruction, community gardens, and home-delivered food boxes for seniors.
In 2017 SnowCap celebrated 50 years of service to our neighbors and Kirsten Wageman became Executive Director with the retirement of Judy Alley. With a volunteer corp of 1,000 dedicated folks giving their time, SnowCap served over 10,000 neighbors each month!
2020 brought the COVID-19 pandemic and many challenges. SnowCap is proud that while the ways we serve our neighbors in need has changed a bit, we remained open for regularly scheduled services and even doubled the amount of food assistance offered to our clients.
2022 brings the next chapter of our history as we undertake the Campaign for SnowCap's Future to build a second facility to relocate our clothing program, add warehouse space and a place for connection, community and compassion.
The purpose of SnowCap was to discover the real needs in the area, communicate them, and assist residents, churches, and community leaders to meet those needs individually and cooperatively. The organization adopted a philosophy that "SnowCap will cross lines of race, religion, national origin, and economic status, hoping to coordinate and act as a barometer, correcting conditions which call for improvement."
The area covered by SnowCap was bounded by East 82nd Street, the Columbia River, and the Clackamas County line -- including Troutdale, Fairview, and Wood Village.
Originally three centers were set up. Rev. Wendall Jacobsen, pastor of Epiphany Lutheran was overall coordinator. SnowCap -- the church-community action program of the Greater Portland Council of Churches -- was born.
The three centers merged in 1968 and headquartered at Savage Memorial Presbyterian. SnowCap was run entirely by volunteers until 1969 when Sister Gemma Kennedy was voted in as full-time director. She was released indefinitely from her teaching assignment with the Franciscan Order, and served until 1979 when Jenny Steward became Director.
In 1977, SnowCap opened a Gresham office located at Trinity Lutheran which provided only food and informational/referral services.
By 1980 there were 39 actively participating churches. SnowCap gave away $86,400 worth of food and fed 12,350 people. Doug Rogers became Director in 1981.
By 1983 SnowCap was serving 36,000 people. Requests for help increased 155% over 1981, the last "normal" year on record.
In 1987 SnowCap celebrated its 20th anniversary, had 145 volunteers, one-full-time worker and 7 part-time workers.
In 1991 Judy Alley became Director. SnowCap's budget of approximately $200,000 included two full-time staff members and three workers on token stipends. 200 volunteers worked for SnowCap. Over 58,000 people were fed and half of those were children.
On SnowCap's 25th anniversary in 1992, more than one-half million people had been served by SnowCap.
By the 40th Anniversary, 1.4 million people had been served. SnowCap had a staff of 7 and a budget of $500,000. New programs included English language instruction, community gardens, and home-delivered food boxes for seniors.
In 2017 SnowCap celebrated 50 years of service to our neighbors and Kirsten Wageman became Executive Director with the retirement of Judy Alley. With a volunteer corp of 1,000 dedicated folks giving their time, SnowCap served over 10,000 neighbors each month!
2020 brought the COVID-19 pandemic and many challenges. SnowCap is proud that while the ways we serve our neighbors in need has changed a bit, we remained open for regularly scheduled services and even doubled the amount of food assistance offered to our clients.
2022 brings the next chapter of our history as we undertake the Campaign for SnowCap's Future to build a second facility to relocate our clothing program, add warehouse space and a place for connection, community and compassion.
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