YAKIMA, Wash. – The PacifiCorp Foundation continued its support of the Lions Health Screening Unit for the third year with a $5,500 grant.

“The PacifiCorp Foundation’s support of the Lions Health Screening Unit for the past two years helped us serve medically underserved communities throughout southern Washington,” said Monty Montoya, Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight and Hearing president and CEO. “Demand is soaring: throughout Washington and northern Idaho, we screened 8,000 people in 1997, and in 2004, we screened a record 31,000 people – 85 percent of them schoolchildren.”

The Lions Health Screening Unit provides a vital service to schools helping them fulfill an important state mandate to screen the vision and hearing of students in grades K, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7.

This year’s grant is for 11 days of screening in Yakima County, six days in Walla Walla County and one day in Columbia County, in May and October. The 62-foot traveling clinic provides free screening for vision and hearing loss, glaucoma, diabetes, and high blood pressure at convenient locations like schools, shopping malls, grocery stores, and public events.

As Pacific Power’s charitable arm, the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning supports organizations that emphasize education.

“Education is the best prevention for many health and social ills,” said Clark Satre, regional community manager for Pacific Power. “These funds will aid organizations in providing quality health-related educational programs and social services for adults, children and families in Yakima County.”

About the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning

The PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning  was created and incorporated as a corporate foundation in 1988 in order to become the major channel of philanthropy for PacifiCorp, Pacific Power and Utah Power. PacifiCorp and its affiliate PPM Energy's employees have a long tradition of active community involvement, including charitable contributions, sponsorships of community events and in-kind donations. PPM Energy is a competitive energy business operating as a subsidiary of ScottishPower, which also owns PacifiCorp.