Jack McGowan to be Honored as 2006 Portland First Citizen

An award first presented in 1928 to honor civic achievements and business leadership in the community is being bestowed upon Jack McGowan.

Jack McGowan and Governor Ted Kulonguski Salem-News.com

(Portland) - Jack McGowan, Executive Director of SOLV, is the recipient of the 2006 Portland First Citizen Award.

The Portland First Citizen Award was created by the Portland Realty Board (now PMAR) in 1928.

SOLV was established in 1969 by Governor Tom McCall and other community leaders. They saw the need for community action to address growing litter and vandalism problems in the state.

As Executive Director, Jack McGowan has managed SOLV`s expansion from a staff of 1 to 34 and its budget from $28,000 to approximately $2.3 million. He represents the organization to business, community and government leaders around the state to address community viability and volunteerism and leads the Board of Directors and staff in long range and strategic planning. Volunteer participation has grown from 5,000 to near an average of 90,000 per year, represented in over 250 Oregon communities. SOLV is considered the largest volunteer non-profit organization in the Pacific Northwest.

Join Jack McGowan and SOLV from 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM on Saturday, March 25th for the annual Spring Beach Cleanup. Bring gloves and dress for the weather. Thousands Turned Out for the 20th Great Oregon Spring Beach Cleanup last March. Under rainy skies, more than 4,100 hardy volunteers participated in the annual beach cleanup on Saturday, March 19, 2005.

The entire Oregon coast, over 362 miles, was cleaned of debris that had accumulated during the stormy winter months. Volunteers removed an estimated 29 tons of trash from Oregon's coastline. Time to join together and keep Oregon the beautiful and clean place we know it to be. For more information: http://www.solv.org/