Oregon Treasury hosted the annual training symposium of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) in June, bringing more than 600 government finance professionals to Portland from across the country. And as people at conferences tend to do, attendees consumed a considerable number of beverages.

Thanks to Oregon’s Bottle Bill, those empty cans and bottles can be returned (with the 10 cent-per-container deposit redeemed) and the total can really add up. That offered an opportunity to encourage attendees to recycle, and to help yield some positive change.

It ended up being substantial.

Those returned containers from the conference, in addition to contributions from collaborative partners the Oregon College Savings Plan, Vestwell State Savings, and Oregon BottleDrop (which operates redemption centers across the state), helped to generate $4,500 for the ALS Association of Oregon and Southwest Washington’s new scholarship fund.

“This was a great opportunity to support the ALS Association of Oregon and Southwest Washington and help kids who have been affected by this disease save for their future higher-education expenses,” said Treasurer Tobias Read.

To cover container deposits and then some, BottleDrop provided $2,000 from its Containers for Change Fund. In addition, the Oregon College Savings Plan (OCSP) provided $1,000, and Vestwell State Savings, the plan manager for OCSP, donated another $500. Rounding out the donations was an additional $1,000 from NAST.

The scholarship fund was created by the ALS Association this year with the help of an anonymous $250,000 donation. Administered by the Oregon College Savings Plan, the fund will offer scholarships to dependents who lose a parent to Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

“I’d like to thank our partners at the National Association of State Treasurers, Oregon BottleDrop, and Vestwell State Savings for their support of this fundraiser, and also symposium attendees for participating by depositing their bottles and cans throughout the week,” said Treasurer Read.

According to Oregon Health & Science University, ALS is a family of uncurable degenerative neurological conditions that impact muscle-controlling nerves in the brain and spinal cord. Over time, those affected lose the ability to speak, eat, walk and breathe on their own.

Oregon Treasury and the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, which operates the BottleDrop redemption centers, are making saving easier for every Oregon family.

Oregonians who return containers at BottleDrop locations can elect to directly steer their redemptions to accounts in both the Oregon ABLE Savings Plan, which allow people to save for disability-connected expenses, and the Oregon College Savings Plan, which can be used for higher education costs at colleges, trade schools and apprenticeship programs. As of April, Oregonians had saved more than $1 million through this innovative partnership.