04/20/2026
Last week, we celebrated our 2026 Meta Data Center Community Action Grant recipients at the Prineville Data Center — and it was a joy to bring together this year’s grant recipients, community partners, Meta team members, and local leaders!
Through our Data Center Community Action Grants program, Meta provides funding for nonprofits and schools — addressing critical community needs by putting technology to use for community benefit, enabling people to build strong, sustainable communities, improving local STEAM education — to support the long-term vitality of Crook County. Learn more on this year’s projects:
High Desert CTE and STEM: To refresh the middle school CTE/STEM lab with industry-aligned equipment that prepares students for advanced career pathways in high school and beyond.
Children's Museum of Central Oregon: To bring standards-aligned engineering design challenges directly into elementary classrooms to foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills at no cost to families.
Crook County Fairgrounds: To modernize Carey Foster Hall with advanced audiovisual tools that support emergency operations, digital inclusion and hybrid community meetings.
Crook County Kids Club: To enhance after-school programming by integrating hands-on STEAM activities and family engagement nights led by a dedicated Developmental Coordinator.
Crook County Parks and Recreation District: To expand Stryker Park with age-appropriate physical challenges and a new zip line that promotes active, inclusive play for children of all abilities.
Crook County School District: To provide middle school students with portable data loggers and scientific probes to analyze invisible phenomena like water quality and atmospheric conditions and to create a student-run sports broadcasting club to produce live streams of school sporting events.
EDCO - Economic Development for Central Oregon: To assess ecosystem gaps and build a strategic roadmap that strengthens tech-enabled entrepreneurship for rural, Latine and Tribal founders.
Heart of Oregon Corps: To provide local teens with paid conservation work experience on public lands to build job readiness and strengthen community environmental resilience.
High Desert Museum: To increase kindergarten readiness for underserved families through free museum access, transportation assistance, and inclusive STEAM Family Nights.
KIDS Center: To equip a mobile child abuse evaluation clinic with advanced forensic recording technology to ensure secure evidence collection and reduce trauma for rural children.
Lake Chinook Fire & Rescue: To enhance emergency response efficiency by deploying rugged tablets that provide first responders with real-time digital mapping and safety protocols.
Powell Butte Community Center: To establish a safe, community-accessible playground in rural Powell Butte that provides local families with a vital space for recreation and fellowship.
Windee Rose Foundation: To empower youth aging out of foster care with smartphones, computers, and digital training necessary for educational success and independent living.
Our thanks to Mayor Jason Beebe, Councilman Steve Uffelman, Crook County Commissioner Seth Crawford and Brian Barney Crook County Commissioner for joining us.
