Grauer Back-to-School Project

The Grauer Back-To-School Project is a volunteer, non-profit cooperative partnership of faith organizations, social service agencies, and businesses created to respond to the back to school needs of low-income Southwest Portland children. Each year our goal is to provide low-income children with new winter coats, shoes, T shirts, and backpacks filled with school supplies for the school year. The project began in 2002 and now serves more than 700 children each year.
 

2010 Details:
Ages Served: Kindergarten through High School
Eligibility: Students who are eligible for the federal free/reduced lunch program. ID required.
Geographic Area: Portland Public Schools in SW Portland, south of Sunset Highway
Distribution Day: Saturday, August 14, 2010, 8 am to 12 noon
Location: St. Luke Lutheran Church, 6835 SW 46th Avenue, Portland, OR 97219
 

Items to be distributed per student:

  • Packet of new, grade-appropriate
    school supplies
 
  • New backpack
 
  • New athletic shoes
 
  • New winter coat
 
  • New underwear (6 pairs)
 
  • New socks (6 pairs)
 
  • New T shirt

Download the following flyer to learn how you can help us achieve our goal and help local students by donating clothing, volunteering, or sharing a monetary gift:

Grauer Project 2010 (PDF) >>

The Grauer Story

Grace Grauer learned the spirit of giving and helping as a child of The Great Depression.

Her parents ran the store in Lafayette, Oregon, where a pot of soup simmered at the back of the stove, providing a hearty meal to hungry neighbors and travelers passing through. Neighbor helped neighbor survive lean economic times. That's just how it was done.

Grace and Marion Grauer were married 52 years. Their lives were full of family, friends, work, and giving to their community. Grace raised three children and, in her mid-40s, returned to college, earning a degree from Portland State University at age 50.

Grace was described as “the ultimate volunteer.” Marion whole-heartedly supported Grace by helping at her side. Children's issues concerned them deeply, but their kindness and caring extended to countless others—from homesick foreign students to the homeless and unemployed.

Grace Grauer employed her giving spirit in many ways, including:

  • Local school volunteer
  • Volunteer Coordinator, Girl Scouts of Columbia River Council Day Camps
  • Board member, LIFE Center
  • Transition Projects volunteer
  • Social Concerns Committee member, St. Luke Church

Grace and Marion Grauer lived in Southwest Portland from 1969 until their death in an automobile accident in 1998. They were long-time members of St. Luke Lutheran Church.

After their death, a bequest was made to St. Luke in their memory. At the request of the Grauer children, the bequest creates the foundation for the Grauer Back-To-School Project.