JOIN US THIS YEAR AS WE HELP COASTAL YOUTH EXPLORE NEW PLACES AND EXPAND THEIR HORIZONS

Application is Open Monday, April 21 to Friday, May 16!

OUR 2025 FOCUS

 Explore & Adventure! 

This year, we are partnering with schools and nonprofits on the Oregon Coast to help young people visit and explore new places, spaces, and environments — getting out of their comfort zones.

In partnership with Explore Lincoln City’s Finders Keepers program — and in celebration of Marie Lamfrom’s 129th birthday — we’re donating $129,000 between Oregon coastal nonprofits and schools each time a special ‘Marie Lamfrom’ float is discovered and reported.

This year, we hope to support young people getting out of their local town or community and engaging with places, people, and ideas that are new to them. This might look like field trips, excursions, or other opportunities to purposefully bring young people into new places, cultures, and environments — away from their home base.

Participating organizations apply and are assigned a glass float, via our special partnership with Explore Lincoln City. When your float is found along the Lincoln City beaches, we make a donate to your organization so that your adventure plan can become a reality.

DETAILS

Did you find a participating glass float? After June 1, check back here to report your discovery and support a participating school or nonprofit!

WHO’S ELIGIBLE

Participating organizations must be a school or 501(c)(3) public charity located or providing the majority (75% +) of services in one of the following cities:

Agness, Arch Cape, Astoria, Brandon, Bay City, Beaver, Brookings, Cannon Beach, Cape Meares, Charleston, Cloverdale, Coos Bay, Coquille, Depoe Bay, Elton, Florence, Garibaldi, Gleneden Beach, Gold Beach, Hammond, Hauser, Lakeside, Langlois, Lincoln City, Manzanita, Mapleton, Myrtle Point, Nehalem, Netarts, Newport, North Bend, Oceanside, Ophir, Otter Rock, Pacific City, Port Orford, Powers, Reedsport, Remote, Rockaway Beach, Seal Rock, Seaside, Sixes, South Beach, Tidewater, Tillamook, Toledo, Waldport, Warrenton, Westlake, Wheeler, Winchester Bay, and/or Yachats

Plus, all participating organizations must meet all of the applicant requirements and criteria of the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

  1. Be sure you’re eligible.

  2. Create an account in our grant database, if you don’t already have one.

  3. Complete the brief application by May 16 in our grant portal, which confirms your eligibility and mission alignment.

  4. Receive confirmation of your float assignment. While we won’t give you your specific serial number, we will confirm that a float has been assigned to you.

  5. From June 1, start your search! Rally community members and friends to visit Lincoln City and search the beaches for your (or another participant’s) float!

  6. Wait and see! If your assigned float is reported, we’ll reach out and let you know. We’ll also send more instructions via email along the way.

Donation sizes vary between $500 - $5,000, with the largest awards issued to those organizations whose floats are discovered first.

Ready to apply?

LEARN MORE

Everything we do here we do to honor and celebrate Marie Lamfrom’s legacy. Learn more about Marie, here love of the Coast, and all about our focus for this year’s program here:

EXPLORE LINCOLN CITY

We are so glad to be partnering for the second time with our friends at Explore Lincoln City and their Finder’s Keepers program. Explore Lincoln City serves as a resource for Lincoln City’s tourism industry and promoting the area for visitation through a variety of strategic initiatives. Learn more about Explore Lincoln City and the Finders Keepers program here.

Questions

  • All approved participants will receive some award. Donation amounts will vary and won’t be finalized until registration is complete, however we expect to distribute $129,000 between all participating organizations. Participants can expect contributions between $500 - $5,000

  • For those with an account set-up in our system, the application should take no more than 30-minutes to complete. For those without an account, it may take 5-10 minutes to get one up and running. You can create an account here.

  • We hope to tell approved applicants of their confirmed enrollment by Friday, May 23.

  • No prior grant history is required to participate, though all who participate are required to align with our funding criteria, here.

  • We want to encourage all participants and community members to get out and support one another. While you won’t know which float is ‘yours’ it is still possible that you will discover your own float! If you find it, register it!

  • The Marie Lamfrom specialty floats are mostly yellow and the only floats that will have a specialty sticker on them for the program. While it is possible that you may find another float in your search, odds are good that any mostly-yellow float found in June or July is a Marie Lamfrom participating float.

  • Many things remind of us Marie, which you might often see reflected in our branding – her “Bluebird” Girl Scout name, her fondness for yellow roses, and her collection of seashells from the coast. Yellow often reminds of us Marie, and now, so will these beautiful floats.

  • Eligible cites and towns were selected from those named by the Oregon Coast Visitor Association. If you think we have made a mistake, please let us know by emailing us at birthday@marielamfrom.org.

  • We’re happy to answer questions! You can send any and all questions to birthday@marielamfrom.org or call our office directly at (503) 877-3943.

  • We receive our final discovery report from Explore Lincoln City on July 31! Find your float before July 31 to receive the optimal amount of funding. (We will work to issue partial funding to all participating organizations, even if your float isn’t found.)

Marie Lamfrom, pictured above with her grand-daughter (and our Co-Founder/Board Chair), Sally Bany.

Learn more about Marie Lamfrom here.