MISSION — Student leaders from across Eastern Oregon distributed more than $70,000 in grants to local nonprofits and school programs as part of the Schnitzer Cares: Student Grantmaking initiative.

Schnitzer Cares hosted 74 student leaders from five area high schools — Hermiston, Pendleton, Umatilla, Weston-McEwen and Nixyaìawii Community School — Thursday, May 8, at Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, Mission, so they could distribute $70,138 to area nonprofits and school programs. The students focused on organizations that support individuals experiencing homelessness, survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and addiction prevention and recovery services.

Since 1997, the foundation has facilitated more than 10,000 teen grantmakers in Oregon to distribute $6.3 million to more than 600 local nonprofit organizations.

In the 2024-25 school year, 1,840 students, including 79 independent groups from 42 schools across Umatilla County, Clatsop County and the Portland metro area, awarded $1.1 million in grants to Oregon nonprofits.

Kristen Engfors, program director for Schnitzer Cares, said in a press release about the event that people unfamiliar with grantmaking might assume it’s easy, noting it’s much more than just giving money away.

“Selecting an issue, analyzing community efforts, building consensus and making confident decisions all require time, patience and critical thinking,” Engfors said. “Students prove they are up to the challenge each year, and it is our great pleasure to celebrate them as leaders and philanthropists.”

Jordan Schnitzer, philanthropist and president of the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, and his family foundation have entrusted local students with the responsibility of distributing millions of their dollars — putting grassroots philanthropy into action.

“It is one thing to say that young people are our future, but it is quite another to empower them during their most formative years, so they are ready for that responsibility,” Schnitzer said in the press release. “This program invests not only in amazing nonprofits that do vital work every day, but in a rising generation of leaders who will see opportunities to make change and know what to do with them.”

The 2025 Eastern Oregon grantmakers, recipients and award amounts

Hermiston High School

• Immigration Counseling Service — $3,125
• Immigrant Connection PDX — $3,123
• Pacific Refugee Support Group — $5,000
• Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization — $3,123

Nixyaìawii Community School

• Bikers Against Child Abuse — $3,000
• Eastern Oregon Mission — $3,000
• Homestead Youth & Family Services — $5,000
• PDX Saints Love — $1,000

Pendleton High School

• Community Resilience Initiative — $5,000
• Homestead Youth & Family Services — $1,000
• Out To Pasture Sanctuary — $1,000
• Pioneer Humane Society — $5,267
• Stepping Stones Alliance — $3,500

Umatilla High School

• Domestic Violence Services of Benton and Franklin Counties — $2,000
• Eastern Oregon Mission — $6,000
• Stepping Stones Alliance — $7,000

Weston-McEwen High School

• Bikers Against Child Abuse — $6,500
• Creating Conquerors — $6,500

About Schnitzer Cares The Schnitzer Cares team helps facilitate student groups that choose a community issue, evaluate applications from local nonprofits and interview nonprofit representatives before deciding which to fund. The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation fully funds and operates Schnitzer Cares: Student Grantmaking, one of the largest youth-led grantmaking programs in the country.