DESCHUTES COUNTY
OREGON NATURAL DESERT ASSOCIATION
Total: $50,000+
NewSun awarded funding in 2020, 2024, 2025, and 2026 to support ONDA’s Tribal Stewards Program, which engages tribal youth in restoration and stewardship projects across ancestral lands in Central and Eastern Oregon. NewSun also awarded a matching grant for the Pine and Robinson Creek River Restoration Project.
BendFilm
Total: $50,000+
NewSun donates annually to the BIPOC women filmmaker grant program that funds the work of new and experienced artists. We also sponsor the Environmental / Outdoor film program featuring films that highlight the complex connection between humans and nature.
OPEN ARTS CENTER
Total: $2,500
The Open Arts Center (OAC) is a new nonprofit creative arts center that will provide free and accessible after school programming, self-directed learning, and community-sourced mentorship for Central Oregon’s teens. NewSun’s donation is supporting the construction of art studios. OAC plans to open their doors in early 2026. Learn more here.
CENTRAL OREGON AVALANCHE CENTER (COAC)
Total: $29,000
The Moon Mountain Weather Station, adjacent to the popular Tumalo Mountain backcountry terrain, provides weather data used to publish avalanche forecasts. The data is also available to state and federal agencies responsible for assessing fire danger and creating weather forecasts. Additional funding awarded for avalanche forecasting during the 23/24, and 24/25 winter season.
HIGH DESERT MUSEUM
Total: $5,000
The High Desert Museum’s ”Little Wonders” early childhood education program offers free two-year museum passes and gas cards to low-income families with kids ages 3-5. In 2026, the museum expects 69 Crook County families to participate in the program.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
Total: $50,000+
NewSun supports environmental education programming in Deschutes and Crook counties, including multi-year funding to pay for a Crook County outreach coordinator position and garden boxes for the Garden for Every School program.
DESCHUTES COUNTY 4H / FFA AUCTION
Total: $30,000
NewSun proudly supports the Deschutes County 4H / FFA Auction through annual add-on donations.
CENTRAL OREGON TRAIL ALLIANCE (COTA)
Total: $10,000
NewSun’s donation helped fund pump track improvements at the popular Phil’s Trails network.
SAVING GRACE
Total: $10,500
Saving Grace offers safety, hope, and healing to survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault and engages Central Oregon to build life free from violence. NewSun awarded a matching grant for the Fall 2023 fundraising campaign.
SOUTH COUNTY COLLABORATIVE
Total: $6,000
Two scholarships for La Pine students to participate in a 120-hour construction pre-apprenticeship program. The program includes trade vocabulary, hand and power tools use, rigging, blueprint reading, and safety. Graduates qualify for registered apprenticeship programs and entry-level positions in construction.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
BendFilm Festival: Turning Inspiration into Impact
Since 2018, NewSun has donated $50,000 to the BendFilm Festival. We sponsor the BIPOC Women Filmmaker Grant, supporting both emerging and established artists. This program elevates underrepresented voices and helps bring stories from marginalized communities to the screen.
NewSun’s annual sponsorship also includes the Environmental/Outdoor Film Program showcasing films exploring the complex relationship between humans and nature. In 2023, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s powerful documentary The Grab received both the Environmental/Outdoor Program Award and the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film.
NewSun x BendFilm - Paddle Tribal Waters
NewSun Energy CEO, Jake Stephens, shares the story of how a conversation with filmmaker Rush Sturges at BendFilm led to seed funding that helped launch the Paddle Tribal Waters initiative. Years later, the program is still going strong, and tribal students are preparing for a first descent down the Klamath River following the largest dam removal in U.S. history.
NewSun x BendFilm - Youth Unstoppable
The film "Youth Unstoppable” about a filmmaker's journey through rural agriculture communities around the world to observe the impacts of climate change helped inspire NewSun’s Climate & Ag Scholarship program.
All Deschutes County Donations
2026
BendFilm Festival
High Desert Museum
Oregon Natural Desert Association
South County Collaborative
2025
BendFilm Festival
Central Oregon Avalanche Center
Open Arts Center
Oregon Natural Desert Association
The Environmental Center
Saving Grace
2024
BendFilm Festival
Central Oregon Avalanche Center
Central Oregon Trail Alliance
4H/FFA Auction Add-on Donation
Giving Plate
Oregon Natural Desert Association
The Environmental Center
2023
BendFilm Festival
Central Oregon Avalanche Center
Central Oregon Trail Alliance
4H/FFA Auction Add-on Donation
Oregon Natural Desert Association
Saving Grace
The Environmental Center
The Giving Plate
2016-2022
4H/FFA Auction Add-on Donation
BendFilm Festival
Central Oregon Avalanche Center
Central Oregon Trail Alliance
The Conservation Alliance
The Environmental Center
Family Kitchen
J Youth Science
Oregon Natural Desert Association
World Muse