Check out the complete image gallery from this year’s event. Want that adorable photo of you and your hubbie? Now you can purchase photos from the 2010 event, and all proceeds benefit the Deschutes Children’s Foundation. Prices are:
4×6 - $4
5×7 - $6
8×10 – $8
All photos are by digital-magicians.com and studio404photography.com.
Check out these great pictures from this year’s event. Doesn’t it bring back memories? Photos by studio404photography.com.
Teenages mothers often find themselves in difficult, sometimes dangerous situations. Grandma’s House, a nonprofit, faith-based home and outreach provides safe shelter to homeless and abused pregnant, parenting and adopting girls between the ages of 12 and 19. The goal of Grandma’s House is to help each young woman become self sufficient and able to make responsible decisions for herself and her child.
The Sagebrush Classic first provided financial support to Grandma’s House in 2001 and last year gave them a $5,000 grant that allowed Grandma’s House to maintain its staff while working with an increased number of clients. In 2009, 14 homeless, pregnant or parenting teens and 13 infants received shelter, counseling and medical attention. The teens also learned life skills. Twenty-two past residents (up from 13 in 2008) received post counseling and support. Twelve youth (who were not pregnant) participated in the nonprofit’s pregnancy awareness and prevention programs, and 588 individuals were helped through Grandma’s Closet.
Bend's Community Center connects the homeless and low-income youth with free bicycles.
Though the Sagebrush Classic attracts world-renowned chefs, it’s truly a community event. That’s why Deschutes Brewery is proud to support Bend’s Community Center through the Sagebrush Classic, providing the nonprofit with $6,000 in funding last year.
Bend’s Community Center offers a wide range of social services to children and families, including Feed The Hungry (the largest food kitchen in Central Oregon, providing 1,200 meals per week), Keep Them Warm (collection and distribution of winter clothing and outdoor survival gear), Becca’s Closet (formal wear for low-income teens) and Bend’s Community Bike Shed (providing free bikes to the homeless and low-income youth). Plus, the nonprofit operate a thrift store, a diaper bank and a job training program.
Since the downturn in the economy, Bend’s Community Center has experienced a sharp increase in demand for services, and at the same time it’s seen a drop in many of its regular sources of support.
“The funding from the Sagebrush Classic for general operations was invaluable and came at a critical time for our organization,” said Bruce Abernethy, Bend’s Community Center board president “ . . . The Sagebrush funding literally allowed us to keep staff on and our doors open.”
As William Carlos Williams once wrote, “men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.” By focusing on art and nature, the nonprofit Caldera widens the scope of what disadvantage youth can find in their lives. The Sagebrush Classic supports this effort, and last year awarded Caldera its first grant from Sagebrush, a total of $5,000.
Caldera reaches out to disadvantaged sixth-graders and stays engaged with them into college through weekly mentoring, workshops with professional artists, a variety of special events and a life-changing arts and nature camp experience. They provide focused, ongoing mentoring to 115 students in five Central Oregon schools, with secondary outreach to more than 5,000 students. Support from the Sagebrush Classic has allowed Caldera to continue serving these youth in the current challenging fundraising climate.
Brooklyn-based choreographer Reggie Wilson leads a traditional call-and-response exercise with Central Oregon Caldera students.
Because of lack of parental involvement and low-expectations, kids can fall through the cracks of the public school system. That’s why Sagebrush is proud to support the program Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Oregon (BBBSCO). Since 2002, Sagebrush has provided
BBBSCO with $11,667. The nonprofit used these funds to create school-based mentoring initiatives to reach out to kids who may not be served through its community-based program. BBBSCO provides youth with a healthy mentor who gives them positive, stable attention and can assist them with important life decisions. This helps prevent these youth from falling into risky behaviors and truancy and helps them deal with difficult situations at home. With a positive, encouraging mentor, these youth can excel.
The Sagebrush Classic is “helping make a reader today” by supporting SMART. 
This nonprofit is working toward a future in which every child in Oregon can read and feels empowered to be successful. Since 2000, Sagebrush has donated $24,500 to SMART, which has helped the program provide literacy support to over 850 students each year. The funds also paid for two new books per child to be taken home each month, and enabled SMART to recruit and train new volunteers. These volunteers read one-on-one with kindergarten to third grade children in public schools that serve low-income students, helping them learn to read.
Is my child developmentally on track to start kindergarten? Is there something wrong with her vision? Does he have behavioral problems or is he just rambunctious? For many families, these questions are difficult to answer—and not finding the answers could have serious consequences to a child’s health and education. That’s why the Sagebrush Classic is proud to support the nonprofit Healthy Beginnings.
Since 1999, Sagebrush has donated more than $47,000 to Healthy Beginnings. They provide comprehensive assessment and referral service for the health and development of children under six years old in Deschutes County. With Sagebrush’s funding, the program has expanded services 25 percent and started offering interpretive services for non English speakers, serving almost 500 children a year. According to the nonprofit, this could not have been possible without support from the Sagebrush Classic.
When you’re a non-profit, you learn how to stretch a dollar.
Deschutes Children’s Foundation is the hub that allows non-profits serving kids and families in Central Oregon to stretch their dollars through shared resources like conference rooms, supplies, and even staff in order to better serve children and families in Central Oregon.
The collaborative system embodies the spirit of charity – but more importantly, it keeps costs for struggling non-profits to a minimum.
But DCF has received more than $2 million from its partnership with the Deschutes Brewery Sagebrush Classic. So what do you get when you put $2 million into such an efficient non-profit model?
You provide therapeutic day care for extremely high risk families. You feed little kids the only hot meals they ever get. You give shelter to homeless families with children. You give kids clothes, toothbrushes and backpacks so they can feel good about going to school.
“Deschutes Children’s Foundation relies on the community for support. It receives no tax dollars and little in the way of foundation grants,” says director Jan Eggleston.
“Because of the stability created for Deschutes Children’s Foundation through the Sagebrush Classic, we’re helping non-profit organizations help kids,” she says.
Bend, Oregon media got a taste of the Sagebrush Classic yesterday when three Sagebrush chefs prepared dishes for an event at the Deschutes Children’s Foundation.
Chef Matt Neltner (Deschutes Brewery) Photo: Ban Tat, Source Weekly
Gavin McMichael from The Blacksmith prepared a cured beef carpaccio on rye crostini with white bean hummus and picallily vegetable.
Matt Neltner from Deschutes Brewery prepared a Charcuterie board with Rosemary Bread, Black Butte Porter Bread and Roasted Vegetable Platter.
Mike Mackie from Broken Top Club prepared a cheese board with dried fruits, nuts and crackers.
And of course, those dishes were carefully paired with flavorful, award-winning beers from Deschutes Brewery.
Gary Fish, who founded both the event and the Brewery, gave a quick history lesson on the soon-to-be 21st Deschutes Brewery Sagebrush Classic. The Sagebrush Classic began as a golf tournament and back-alley BBQ for Deschutes Brewery’s customers, employees and vendors. In 1994, it expanded to include a gourmet dinner prepared by top chefs from across the country. Today the Sagebrush Classic Feast draws more than one thousand people to the Broken Top Meadow for the hottest night of the year.
Given its informal beginnings, it’s incredible that today the Deschutes Brewery Sagebrush Classic Feast showcases the culinary artistry of national and international star chefs, and has evolved into a must-attend event for chefs and party-goers alike. In total, the Sagebrush Classic has generated more than $2 million for Deschutes Children’s Foundation, which each year serves more than 45,000 local children and families.