Salvador Castañares immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1923 with no friends and a janitorial job in exchange for his high school education. Yet he aspired to be a physician, and through a combination of talent, hard work and study, he realized his dream, serving in World War II as a flight surgeon before entering private practice in reconstructive surgery. He built his dream into a lifelong, rewarding career, and instilled the same ethic for achievement in his children.
After he died at the age of 97, one of those children, Dr. Tina Castañares of Hood River, decided to establish an endowment in his honor with Gorge Community Foundation. She approached her mother and siblings, and together they started the Salvador Fund, which will award its first grants in 2016 to non-profit organizations serving the interests of immigrants, migrants, farmworkers, elders, caregivers and low-income residents of the Mid-Columbia region.
Their goal this first year is to award $5,000.
“I wanted to honor my father by making a contribution to the Gorge, because the Gorge has given me so much,” said Dr. Castañares. “It’s a give-back in my father’s honor.”
Dr. Castañares specializes in family medicine. She is widely recognized as a leading advocate for immigrants and other underprivileged populations of the Columbia Gorge. In her retirement, she has been volunteering to advance livability for elders and caregivers. She convened a community group now known as the Aging in the Gorge Alliance (AGA), which has many activities under way. (For more information on AGA, see B2.)
Dr. Castañares also helped establish La Clinica del Cariño, now known as One Community Health, where she currently serves as a board member. She was the health officer for Hood River County for 12 years, and was closely involved in founding the Oregon Health Plan.
Through the Salvador Fund, Dr. Castañares and her siblings wish to support activities or events that benefit elders, caregivers, immigrants, migrants and farmworkers, with emphasis upon cultural and linguistic competency, equity and community building.
Non-profit groups from any sector (education, housing, transportation, health care, the arts and culture, public health) are eligible to apply for programs, projects, or events that fit the Salvador Fund’s criteria and priorities. Individuals and organizations wishing to support the Salvador Fund’s goals may also do so by contributing to the fund, in care of the Gorge Community Foundation. Donations are tax-deductible to the extend allowed by law.
The Salvador Fund will support small grants of $250 to $2,000. Proposals are accepted through the year, with all decisions subject to review and approval by the Gorge Community Foundation board.
Most applicants should receive a response within two months of proposal submission.
For details, visit the Gorge Community Foundation website, www.gorgecf.org, or e-mail the Foundation at gcf@ gorge.net.
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