A Great Time at This Year's Peace and Pie in the Park

Over 125 people joined us in Eugene on Sunday, August 12th, for Peace and Pie in the Park. With friends and supporters from places like Medford, Bend, and Portland, we enjoyed great food and music. We all had a chance to soak up the sunshine and connect with our allies in the movement for social justice. And to top it all off, we raised over $5,000 for social justice and community organizing in Oregon!

It’s always special to gather with community in Eugene, where MRG Foundation first started. Our director, Sharon Gary-Smith, reflected on this celebration— it echoes the original gathering initiated by Leslie Brockelbank and Charles Gray to form MRG and to build social justice in Oregon, and 36 years later, we’ve given over 12 million dollars in grants across the state! Young leaders from Amigos Multicultural Services Center‘s Juventud Faceta program sang with the crowd, “We are the cultivators of social justice!” Eugene restaurateur and longtime MRG supporter, Ib Hamide, along with our Board chair and local NAACP activist Arbrella Luvert, shared with us how they cultivate justice by giving to MRG and supporting social justice grantmaking in our state.

Check out our photos in the slideshow above and on Facebook.

Special thanks to our outstanding caterers, Jorge Navarro from Navarro’s Latin Creole Kitchen and Robin Brown-Wood from ALMA Catering, who volunteered their time and created fantastic food for the event. And of course, thanks to all of you who came and brought your excitement for social justice on a hot summer day in Eugene!

Thank you to the following community-minded businesses for their sponsorship:

Non-Profit Support Services
Navarro’s Latin Creole Kitchen
ALMA Catering
City of Eugene Equity & Human Rights Center
Sustainable Wealth Management

Huge thanks to these local businesses and restaurants for in-kind support:

Bliss
Café Soriah
Grand Central Baking
Mezza Luna
Rennie’s Landing
Sweet Life Pattiserie
Kiva Grocery Store
Glory Bee
Hummingbird
Emerald Produce
Organically Grown Co.
Long’s Meat
TIS Grafx