Community Involvement
Financial Support And Employee Volunteers
A community is more than a place where we work or operate. It’s also the place where we live; it is our home. As such, we are committed to nurturing and growing our communities. We provide financial assistance and encourage employee volunteers to support organizations that improve lives in Cowlitz County.
Some recent highlights include:
Lower Columbia School Gardens
Our Natural Choice Copy paper team has partnered with Lower Columbia School Gardens to support their efforts in cultivating the values of lifelong learning, sustainability, health, and community. Each ream of paper sold supports this program.
NORPAC donates so the school can achieve the list below:
- LCSG has helped create and sustain 19 school gardens (for a total of over 150,000 square feet) in Cowlitz County.
Each year: - over 4,000 students are engaged in dynamic, hands-on cooking, science, and nutrition activities in School Gardens.
- over 450 volunteers support the gardens with their time, energy, knowledge and skills.
- over 5,000 hours are contributed by those volunteers.
Learn more about Lower Columbia School Gardens
Head Start
NORPAC employees hold diaper drives weather it be diaper and wipe donation or cash - same with coat drives where we’ve recently donated over 200 coats not including other winter gear like hats, gloves and scarfs.
- Lower Columbia College Head Start/Early Head Start/Early Childhood Education Assistance Program (ECEAP) is a holistic program that provides quality early childhood education experiences through comprehensive services that support income eligible children and families, prenatal to five.
Learn more about Head Start
NORPAC & The Red Cross
Since 2004 NORPAC has hosted regular blood drives through which we have collected 3,133 pints of blood. The Red Cross tells us this amount of blood has had the potential of saving 9,399 lives! These blood drives are unique in that they are events hosted by NORPAC but open to not only our employees, but also to retirees and employees from Weyerhaeuser, Nippon Dynawave and our contractors.
In 2020 NORPAC was awarded the “blood drive recruiter award” for having the most donors in the state of Washington! When the effects of COVID hit, we were forced to move our drives to vans which greatly reduced the number and types of donors. We are very pleased to announce that starting July 22nd, our drives will be back in the NORPAC product line rooms! We look forward to building on our 18-year history of collecting blood and helping the Red Cross save lives.
Salvation Army
NORPAC volunteers with the bell ringing in front of stores and volunteer to set up the holiday giving event. With the holiday event our employees sponsor around 75 angel tags.
Assistance with:
- Disaster Relief
- Holiday giving
- LGBTQ Support
- Commitment to Diversity
- Homeless Shelters
- Food Pantries
- Grassroots Services
- Life skills to escape poverty
- Rehabilitation
- Job Training
- Solutions to human trafficking
- Veteran services
- Services for the aging
- Help for domestic abuse
- Afterschool programs
United Way
NORPAC has a large group of employee volunteers that lend helping hands for a day of projects that support local non-profits, community centered organizations and those in need. Also while making a large donation as well as providing supplies for the volunteer work as needed.
United Way of Cowlitz & Wahkiakum Counties insures all individuals live healthy, secure and productive lives in our community. Mobilizing the caring power of our community to continuously improve the lives of every person in Cowlitz and Wahkiakum Counties.
Learn more about United Way
Goodwill
NORPAC takes in around 10-15 goodwill interns for activities such as:
- Resume Building
- Interview Skills
- Workshops
- Access to job openings
Diaper Drive- Cindy Hernandez
The pedal Partners Coffee Club began about 20 years ago with a partnership between Head Start of Cowlitz County and the NORPAC Fiber Team. Not surprisingly, there was not enough funding to cover all the actual needs of the children and families in the program.
The NORPAC team of volunteers stepped in to close that funding gap. This arrangement was unique in that NORPAC employees worked directly with Head Start, bypassing agencies who would have taken a cut. Just NORPAC employees and vendors helping our neighbors in need.
From modest beginnings—a single coffee pot, occasional treats, and a tip jar for donations—big things were accomplished over the years. Tricycles, scooters, double rider trikes for disabled kids, and playground equipment dot the Head Start locations around Cowlitz County.
Many hundreds of children have been kept toasty warm over the years because of our annual winter coat drive. Tens of thousands of diapers and wipes have been donated in our spring fundraising event. Some of our vendors and their families have joined in the support over the years helping the Coffee Club meet their goals.
Most years NORPAC has pitched in to help get the word out, add a little friendly competition and donated to the cause too.
In appreciation of the help throughout the years the NORPAC Pedal Partners Coffee Club has been nominated for several awards and in 2010 the club won the Regional Appreciation award! The year before it was given to Phil Knight of Nike! Norpac really rose to the occasion! The annual diaper drive is happening now! In previous years we have donated up to 7,000 diapers. Our current goal is to collect and donate 8,000 diapers.
You can join Cindy and the Pedal Partners team in making a difference in the community by either donating cash or diapers before the diaper drive ends on April 3! Donations should be delivered to the lab. Cindy is happy to answer any questions. She can be reached at Cindy.Hernandez@norpacpaper.com. Thank you!
Other Organizations We Support Include:
- American Cancer Society, Relay for Life
- AmeriCorps
- Bonneville Power Administration
- Customer Collaborative
- Community House
- Cowlitz County Economic
- Development Council
- Cowlitz County PUD Electric Rate
- Advisory Committee
- Kelso Longview Chamber of
- Commerce
- Leadership Tomorrow
- Lower Columbia College
- Lower Columbia Transportation
- Association
- Northwest River Partners
- Southwest Washington Economic
- Development Council
- St. Vincent de Paul
- Washington Pulp & Paper Foundation
- YMCA