Depoe Bay budget committee hears funding requests from local nonprofits

The Depoe Bay Budget Committee on a meeting date not specified took public presentations from multiple local nonprofits seeking city support and clarification of submitted grant packets.

Several community groups asked the committee for operating or event funding. Kathy Wyatt, organizer of the Fleet of Flowers event, asked the city for a $5,000 donation toward an event she said “takes about $20,000 to do,” and described the group’s primary fundraiser and an 80th‑anniversary concert planned “down at the docks.” Wyatt said, “we are requesting $5,000.”

Dennis White, representing Friends of Otter Rock, told the committee the group recently became a standalone 501(c)(3), and described the nonprofit’s tide‑pool interpretation and volunteer training. “We are now our own 5 1 c 3,” White said, and he described two‑day trainings at the Hatfield Marine Science Center and partnerships with US Fish and Wildlife and NOAA to train volunteers who interpret marine life for visitors and perform debris and bird‑monitoring surveys.

A Meals on Wheels representative identified as Cindy said the program serves roughly 34 clients in the Depoe Bay area and “we served about over 4,000 meals last year.” She described the program’s model (hot meals Monday, Wednesday and Friday; frozen weekend meals for some clients), reliance on volunteers and outsourced meal preparation through a vendor called Trio, and said federal programs such as the Older Americans Act and Title XIX remain part of the funding mix but are largely flat. Cindy said volunteers provide wellness checks that sometimes prompt emergency services for isolated clients.

A representative of Neighbors for Kids asked the committee for a larger, multi‑thousand dollar city contribution to bridge fundraising shortfalls. The presenter said the organization is seeking roughly $131,600 in contributed revenue overall and asked whether the city could provide $75,000 of that total. The speaker described Neighbors for Kids as a long‑running local child‑care and youth program, said the group serves school‑age and preschool children (counting 237 kids served over about nine to 10 years and 36 school‑age children living in Depoe Bay in the most recent year), and warned that reductions in federal or partner funding could force program cuts.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about packets and budgets; staff noted one food‑pantry packet had been included in a later packet and some committee members had not received it in the first packet. Presenters were reminded the committee was collecting information now and that formal budget decisions would be made later in the process.

Votes at a glance: the committee earlier confirmed a chairperson by voice vote (nomination and voice tally recorded as “three in favor” in the transcript) and approved minutes for a prior meeting (motion passed; no recorded roll‑call names in transcript).