By Raymond Rendleman; photo of 2009 Pangaea students in Thailand courtesy of The Pangaea Project

The owner of Zaytoon Bar on Northeast Alberta Street never thought she’d grow up to be a community activist.

Raised in Mosul, Aysha Ghazoul fled with her family to England at age 8 just before the Iran-Iraq War. After completing her business degree in Manchester, she moved to Portland and told some of her many stories through the Northwest Film Center.

In starting Zaytoon, Ghazoul, 37, thought she’d just put her business sense to work in a diverse and accepting community. But soon she was inspired to give back at the grassroots level. In The Pangaea Project, a Northeast Portland nonprofit that engages low-income youth in local and international service learning projects, Ghazoul saw the promotion of positive life-changing experiences that her refugee lifestyle brought only by necessity.

“Pangaea gives kids the opportunity to experience other cultures and bring what they’ve learned to positive change in the community,” she says.

So she took to the streets, convincing more than 10 business owners on Alberta to mount a unique campaign for Pangaea, led by $500 grants from Zaytoon and del Inti restaurants. The newly formed Alberta Street Community Campaign is also sponsoring Pangaea promotionally. Displaying their partnership with Pangaea through window decals bearing the nonprofit’s logo, participating businesses will give away free samples of their products while also sharing info about Pangaea and why they sponsor the program.

“I’m not sure this has ever been done before where an entire street adopts an organization,” Ghazoul says.

Having a large part of a business district band together to support a nonprofit was a revelation for Pangaea. Traditionally, the main way to sponsor an organization has been to underwrite an event, which only gives limited exposure to businesses.

“In this funding environment, we’re looking for a way that a large number of local businesses can support a nonprofit,” says Rebecca Channer, Pangaea’s interim executive director.

Pangaea started the campaign on Alberta businesses simply canvassing for donations, but realized it could shape a unique social model for nonprofits working with a whole neighborhood of businesses.

“There was kind of an outcry from businesses to adopt a local organization, rather than have lots of organizations constantly stopping by asking for money,” Channer says.

The Alberta Street Community Campaign realized its strength this fall with the fourth annual graduation of program participants, raising $3000 within six weeks. Alberta’s own Siam Society donated a “Chef for a Day” program that was raffled off at the Nov. 6 event. In presenting a change-makers video at the graduation, Ghazoul saw a natural fit between Alberta businesses and Pangaea.

Ghazoul hasn’t just been involved with Pangaea for three years now, mostly as a volunteer. She’s a neighbor, not only with the organization as a business, but also as a homeowner with many of the project participants. “I liked Pangaea, mostly because they’re based in Northeast Portland and I really wanted to support the community,” she says.

There’s also a poetic justice in the partnership’s development for Ghazoul. “[Pangaea] is still a small organization, but it’s getting a reputation,” she says. “Alberta as well is growing in its presence, so I really think we can support each other over the long term.”

Ghazoul agrees with Channer that it’s overwhelming as a business owner to keep receiving solicitations. Once the window decals are up, she thinks businesses will be willing to be approached again, as they see growth in a movement to show allegiance to a specific nonprofit.

Initially businesses were a bit more reserved, especially with the economy, but Pangaea’s students are also often scared at first because a lot of them have never left Portland, Ghazoul points out.

She was expecting people just to learn a bit about Pangaea, but a lot of people ended up giving. “Travelling was how me and my siblings grew mentally and physically,” she recalls. Just as her parents took her places that weren’t always pretty, she wants Pangaea to promote exactly that kind of challenging growth.

“The response was so positive we started hitting up all of the businesses,” Ghazoul says. “This is what can happen with just one week of walking up and down the street.”