20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair
(with thanks to Pablo Neruda)
SUPPORT STREET BOOKS WINTER CAMPAIGN TODAY - YOUR DONATION WILL BE MATCHED - THANK YOU!
It is no secret that we are living in very challenging times. At Street Books, we’ve been thinking about how to contain all the love we have, while acknowledging and feeling the despair. Josh Pollock, our Library Operations Coordinator, suggested that we might borrow a structure from the poet Pablo Neruda’s poetry collection, Twenty Love Poems & a Song of Despair. Each of us contributed nominations of beloved library patrons, community partners and even dogs that we love and admire, and fashioned it into a list of twenty of our own version of “love poems.” Neruda’s collection was published in 1924, as the world was recovering from the ravages of World War I and people were hungry for evidence of beauty and art in the world. At Street Books we lean on books and people in the same way, books as revolutions, books as containers for love and connection.
This simple acknowledgment of all the love that is around uplifted us. And we hope it uplifts you too. We also hope you are inspired today to support the love and care that Street Books provides every day, all over our city, consistently showing up for our community. We can’t do all we do without you, our supporters - thank you for your support!
Your generous support today will help us to continue to provide a broad range of resources and show up consistently with care and positive regard. With your support, we have a big, positive impact on the health and well-being of our community for a small non-profit. AND in November and December donations will be matched 1:1 up to $30,000 by a generous group of business partners and donors. A $100 gift automatically becomes $200! Help us to meet our match with a generous today - thank you!
We are in Willamette Week’s Give!Guide again this year - with 251 other fantastic non-profits, featuring gifts and incentives for Give!Guide donors and 13 Big Give Days where anyone who gives $10 or more can be entered to win get-aways, dinners, gift certificates and more!
Give through Give!Guide November 1 - December 31st and support Street Books and other non-profits doing vital work in our community - all while participating in a fun, powerful giving community.
There are still THREE ways to give:
Through Willamette Week’s Give!Guide November 1st through December 31st!
Mail a check to Street Books, PO Box 13642 Portland, OR 97213
All donations at all levels will be matched 1:1 up to $30,000 by a generous group of donors. A $100 donation will grow to $200 and $10 becomes $20! Help us meet our match - thank you!
All donations through the Give!Guide will receive a certificate for a free, used book of their choice from the selection available at Street Books mini-bookstore located inside KISS coffee on NE Ainsworth.
The first 300 donors with a $30 or greater donation will be offered a $5 gift card to Up Up Books in SE Portland.
All donations of $100 or greater throughout the campaign will be offered a signed copy of Loaners: The Making of a Street Library, a book about the creation of Street Books!
On 11/1 the first 8 donors who give $50 or more will be offered a $20 Annie Bloom's Books Gift Card.
On Giving Tuesday (12/3) Street Books board member, Pulitzer finalist, MacArthur Award winner, and local, beloved author, Karen Russell, will sign, inscribe and mail a copy of her brand new novel, The Antidote, when it is released in 2025 for the first 5 people who give a $300 donation or greater. And for the first ten donors who donate $100-$299 on Giving Tuesday, Karen will mail a signed copy of one of her books of your choice. Important Note: The Antidote will be inscribed and mailed upon its release in March of 2025. Karen will reach out to donors for requested inscriptions at that time.
THANK YOU!
Thank you to Dos Corazones Fund and all of the generous, wonderful donors providing a matching gift for this campaign. We appreciate you! Many warm thanks to the following people, nonprofits and great businesses for generously partnering with Street Books for the 2024 Give!Guide - AND for all you do for our communities!