Flora Family Foundation Final Report

Introduction

In 2003 Free Geek received it's largest grant ever, $185,000 from the Meyer Memorial Trust. Combined with $65,000 in grants from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Collins Foundation, Free Geek embarked on a very ampitious expansion of the entire program. The goal of the expansion was to make Free Geek a self-sustaining organization by the end of 2005. This goal has been mostly acheived, but not without some substantial setbacks along the way. It was during the aftermath of the problems that we had experienced that a member of the Flora Family Foundation approached us and quite simply asked "how can we help?". Free Geek received $10,000 in August of 2004 and applied the money to our general operating costs that were still in the red, giving the organization crucial additional time in which to further increase income. As the end of 2005 approached, Free Geek began operating in the black and the first quarter of 2006 was an entirely self-funded quarter. We believe that this is the beginning of a trend that will make Free Geek somewhat unique amongst non-profits - sustainable.

A detailed report on the Meyer Memorial Trust grant can be found at Meyer Memorial Trust Final Report.