Spread joy (and safety) this holiday season by giving the perfect Oregon gift!
Travel Oregon
Travel Oregon has announced the return of its popular “Give the Gift of Oregon” holiday shopping gift guides, which provide inspiration and ideas so shoppers can find uniquely Oregon gifts, while supporting local businesses throughout the state. The gift guides are organized regionally and by areas of interest such as food and drink, trip planning, outdoor adventure, and arts and culture.
Oregon Emergency Management
Preparedness is a gift!
Show how much you care by giving the gift of preparedness this holiday season. The holidays are a great opportunity to encourage your friends and family to prepare for emergencies and disasters. Here are a few low-cost and no-cost ways to help your loved ones get prepared, and perhaps cross some items off your wish list as well:
- Make a Plan. The first step to disaster preparedness is having a plan. Talk with your loved ones about emergency plans. Establish an evacuation route, a family meeting place, and how you will contact each other if you are separated during an emergency. Visit Ready.gov and download free preparedness publications as guides to get started.
- Stock an Emergency Kit. Emergency kits are critical when disaster strikes. Help your loved ones create or update their emergency kit with essential items. Flashlights and extra batteries, portable power banks or phone chargers, a weather radio, a first aid kit, and tools are all necessary items that make great gifts.
- Include the Kids. Protect your loved ones by helping them learn what to do in the event of an emergency. Kids and teens who are prepared often experience less anxiety and feel more confident during emergencies and disasters. Visit Ready.gov for resources to teach kids and teens how to be prepared, not scared, for emergencies.
- Sign up for Emergency Notifications. Are you and your loved ones signed up for emergency alerts? Visit OR-Alert to sign up or update your contact information to receive local emergency alerts in Oregon. Share the website with friends and family on your holiday cards. Take a moment to help loved ones sign up during your holiday visits.
- Create community. The holidays are a great time to create community. As you spread holiday cheer and share treats with your neighbors, talk to them about emergency plans. Exchange contact information and identify if any neighbors may need extra help during emergencies. Well-connected communities are more resilient.
Oregon State Parks
Give the gift of the outdoors and save this season with the Oregon State Parks 12-month parking permit sale through December.
The permit hangtag once again features whimsical designs from Portland artist El Tran. Holiday shoppers can buy the annual parking permits for only $25, which is a $5 savings starting Dec. 1 and running through Dec. 31. The permit is good for 12 months starting in the month of purchase.
Purchasing permits is easy. Buy them online at the Oregon State Parks store. Parking permits are also sold at some state park friends’ group stores and select local businesses throughout the state. For a complete list of vendors, visit stateparks.oregon.gov.
Parking costs $5 a day at 25 Oregon state parks unless you have a 12- or 24-month parking permit or a same-day camping receipt. The 24-month pass is $50 and is also available at store.oregonstateparks.org. The permits are transferable from vehicle to vehicle.
Additional gift ideas:
- Oregon State Parks centennial boots by Danner
- Oregon State Parks eGift Cards
- Oregon State Parks gear designed by artists
- Oregon State Parks apparel and products
- Oregon State Parks’ Pendleton Blanket
Oregon Lottery
Gifting procrastinators still have time to find something everyone appreciates. Oregon Lottery Scratch-it tickets are an easy-to-give, last-minute gift (no need to worry about choosing the right size or color) that can be found at many of the 3,800 Lottery retailers across Oregon.
But there is one important consideration – make sure the gift’s recipient is at least 18 years old.
“Lottery tickets are not for kids,” said Oregon Lottery Director Barry Pack. “Each holiday season, we appreciate that many of our tickets become stocking stuffers, gift tags and part of fun traditions. It’s also an opportunity to remind our players that Oregon Lottery games are only for adults.”
Throughout the holiday, the Oregon Lottery and lotteries worldwide are partnering with the National Council on Problem Gambling and the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors at Canada’s McGill University to promote giving lottery tickets responsibly. The Oregon Lottery has been part of this annual campaign for over a decade. Oregon Lottery proceeds also provide funding for free, confidential, and effective problem gambling treatment programs statewide.
For adults picking up lottery scratch-its, prizes can range from a few dollars to $250,000. Last week, a Gresham resident won $150,000 playing the “Winter Bucks” Scratch-it. Holiday tickets this year feature five festive themes and start at $1 to purchase.
So far this year, Oregonians have spent more than $62 million on Scratch-its. After prizes are paid, revenue from ticket sales fund programs such as education, state parks, veteran services, outdoor school and more.
Since the Oregon Lottery began selling tickets on April 25, 1985, it has earned nearly $15 billion for economic development, public education, outdoor school, state parks, veteran services, and watershed enhancements. Since 1992, over $118 million in Lottery dollars has been directed to fund problem gambling treatment and awareness in Oregon. For more information on the Oregon Lottery visit www.oregonlottery.org.
Oregon Cultural Trust
Oregonians, and only Oregonians, have the unique opportunity to direct a portion of their state taxes to fund arts, heritage and humanities work across the state by using the Cultural Tax Credit. Most Oregonians who are eligible, however, are not aware of the opportunity.
Participating in the tax credit is easy. First, make a donation to a cultural nonprofit that matters to you – your local library, a performing arts organization, a museum or any of the 1,500+ organizations qualified by the Cultural Trust. Then make a contribution of equal or lesser value to the Trust to qualify for the tax credit. The credit is equal to the amount of the contribution to the Trust, and may not exceed $500 for a single filer, $1,000 for joint filers or $2,500 for Class-C corporations.*
Funding through the Cultural Tax Credit empowers Oregonians such as artists, potters, rappers, acrobats and dreamers – in short, the people who make Oregon a place that celebrates the best of its community.
Another way to get involved is to purchase the “Celebrate Oregon!” Cultural Trust license plate. This vibrant license plate, designed by artist Liza Mana Burns, is a tribute to Oregon’s diverse geography, people, and cultural traditions. If you look closely, you’ll find 127 symbols woven into the artwork hat encompass the art, history, heritage, people, and cultural practices that make Oregon unique. Proceeds from the plate support the promotion of the Cultural Tax Credit and fund arts and culture across the state.
For more information on the Oregon Cultural Trust, and to learn more about all the ways you can get involved, visit https://culturaltrust.org.
*Contributions to the Cultural Trust must be made in the same calendar year as the donation(s) to cultural nonprofits. Currently, the Cultural Trust estimates only 5 percent of cultural donors take advantage of the tax credit.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Last minute outdoor gift-giving!
If your holiday gift-giving list includes hunters, anglers or other outdoors people, consider a big game raffle tickets, a fishing license or a wildlife area parking permit. It’s like gifting a year’s worth of outdoor adventures. Learn about ODFW more gift-giving ideas and how to buy them.
Oregon Marine Board
Gift the outdoors to the paddler in your life!
The Marine Board sells one and two-year Waterway Access Permits through our Boat Oregon store. Permits are valid for one (or two!) calendar years. It’s fast, secure and easy.
- Go to Boat.Oregon.gov/store
- Click Online Services in the upper right-hand corner
- Click the link for the permit you want
- Click Register to create an account and follow the prompts
You can also purchase through myODFW.com and go to the Guest Checkout to make your selection.
Permit sales help fund boat inspection stations and grants to develop nonmotorized access.
Oregon Youth Authority
If you’re looking for ways to support Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) youth, please check out our facilities’ Amazon wish lists.*
Each list is stocked with items the youth at that facility have requested to support their living units.
- Eastern Oregon Youth Correctional Facility (Burns, OR): bit.ly/EasternWishList
- MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility (Woodburn, OR): bit.ly/MacLarenlist
- Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility and Jackie Winters Transition Program (Albany, OR): bit.ly/OakCreekList
- Rogue Valley Youth Correctional Facility (Grants Pass, OR): bit.ly/RogueValleyYCF
- Tillamook Youth Correctional Facility: bit.ly/TillamookYCFList
- Camp Riverbend (La Grande, OR): bit.ly/RiverbendList
- Camp Tillamook: bit.ly/CampTillamookList
*OYA can only accept items on these lists, and the items must be shipped directly from Amazon to the facility.
Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission
Gift of donation to reduce wildfire risk this holiday season!
The Oregon Conservation Corps (OCC) Program was established in 2021 for the purpose of; reducing the risk wildfire poses to communities and critical infrastructure, creating fire-adapted communities, and engaging youth and young adults in workforce training. The OCC grants funding to organizations across the state to aid in reducing wildfire risk to communities while providing workforce training to the next generation of land managers.
When OCC was established, the Oregon Legislature made up to $1 million dollars available to match private fund donations that the program is able to raise by June 30, 2023. Donated funds will be matched by these state funds at a 5:1 ratio. The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) is assisting our mission to raise matching funds by providing a secure platform to donate dollars that can be matched by the state. Donations through OCF are tax deductible and go specifically to support OCC projects.
Oregon State Treasury
Does the favorite child in your life already have more toys than they can count?
Invest in their future by contributing to their Oregon College Savings Plan account (or starting one on their behalf today) www.oregoncollegesavings.com/gift-contributions.
You can even send a fun digital greeting card to let them know a gift is on the way.
