Our business is built around revitalizing communities, and we care deeply about leaving a positive impact. Therefore we wanted to come up with a community philanthropy program to give back to our communities in a way that resonates with our employees. As a result, in 2016, The Giving Gorilla was born.
Each month Gorilla Capital will make a monetary donation to 1-2 charities, organizations, or programs nominated by our employees. We will donate up to $5,000 each calendar year to employee chosen programs. We left the definition of “community” up to the individual employees to interpret for themselves; they may consider their community to be the world, the nation, the state, or their local neighborhood. To date we have supported over 60 deserving organizations through The Giving Gorilla program.
2023 Giving Gorilla recipients
I would like to nominate Cigars for Warriors for Giving Gorilla this year. The main goal of this non-profit is to provide cigars to American Service Men and Women serving in combat zones along with those long term deployed troops and those on Floats. This simple act will help these service members by providing a little joy, relaxation, stress relief, and a way to socialize and team build while protecting and serving our great states in so many ways.
The Cigar for Warriors was found through a friend of mine that owns a cigar lounge. He has a drop box that he ships off monthly to this program. I like the idea of product because 100% of the donation is put to use.
I would like to nominate MIUSA, a world-wide nonprofit, located right here in Eugene Oregon. I ran into them with my volunteer work at the Airport this past year as they held their Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability international 2-week workshop here in Eugene and their attendees were all headed home. MIUSA provides guidance to developing countries on how to be inclusive, supportive and empower people in their communities with disabilities. They are changing how people with and without disabilities think about disability in countries around the world. They are building future advocates, including the need of women to be elevated within in the international disability rights movement. The WILD project has trained 2,600 Women with Disabilities, from 89 different countries, at grassroots level on how to advocate for themselves and others with disabilities in their home countries.
Mission: To empower people with disabilities around the world to achieve their human rights through international exchange and international development. To ensure a just, accessible and inclusive community in which the human rights, citizenship, contribution and potential of people with disabilities are respected and celebrated.
The organization I would like to support is Friends of Trees.
I would like to nominate Friends of Trees Eugene/Springfield for my Giving Gorilla recipient. Friends of Trees has been planting and maintaining trees in the Eugene/Springfield metro area since 2011. With the help of thousands of volunteers, they have planted 6,000+ trees and native shrubs in that time. A strong tree canopy is an essential part of having a healthy city environment. This canopy has been decreasing in Eugene, but Friends of Trees has been hard at work trying to turn this around.
This year I would like to nominate All Seated In A Barn as my organization of choice for the Giving Gorilla. They are a horse rescue and rehabilitation based out of Bakersfield, CA. Every month they travel to Texas to rescue as many horses, donkeys, and mules as they can. Many of these horses are severely neglected and are tagged to ship to slaughter, which is a 15+ hour trailer ride to Mexico.
The thing that really has drawn me towards this organization is their willingness to step in and purchase the horses who need to be humanely euthanized and are in visible pain versus letting those animals continue to suffer in the slaughter pipeline. So many of these horses are failed by their owners, who chose to make a few bucks at an auction instead of doing right be the animal with proper veterinary care. Because horses and donkeys are considered livestock, they are not protected by the same animal welfare rights as dogs, for example.
This donation was made during the auction weekend so the funds can go directly toward saving a life.
I would like to nominate Lāhui Foundation. My family and I were on Maui when the fires were burning. While we were incredibly fortunate to not have been affected in any way that matters, our hearts were heavy. I learned of the Lāhui Foundation in my search for an organization that would provide urgent, critical aid specifically to the residents. The Lāhui Foundation’s mission is to serve communities in Hawai’I, the safety and well-being of the people of Hawai’I, as well as the protection and preservation of culture and ‘aina. They are collecting monetary donations that will go directly towards fire recovery efforts for residents of Maui who have been affected by the destructive fire in Lāhainā.
Recurring Sponsorships
For the 8th year, we are excited to be a part of Greenhill’s Annual Bark in the Park fundraiser as their mile marker sponsor! Our dog friendly office approves; we have had representatives of our “office dogs” run the 5k or 2k every year!
This is serious stuff folks. For the last 7 years we have sponsored the reigning champions of the Eugene Women’s Volleyball League, Team Gorilla Capital. The team includes 2 of our employees and as well as the interior designer for our office space! This team was already in place years before Gorilla Capital was the sponsor, and in May 2019 this group of women clinched their 9th title in as many years. Due to covid the leagues have been on pause since 2020 but are starting back up in 2023! How long can the streak last? They’re not getting any younger out there…
