PHILOMATH - The Philomath Scout Lodge has received a $500,000 grant from the Ford Family Foundation, and is now 80 percent finished with fund-raising for the facility, said Jeff Fuller, the organization's vice president.

"That's just a huge shot in the arm," he said.

The gift represents about a third of the total project cost, which is estimated at $1.4 million.

Things have come a long way from when volunteers starting collecting soda pop cans for the lodge, in 2001.

"When you get a grant that large, it puts you in shock. A good kind of shock," said Bill Mayer, the president of the Philomath Scout Lodge.

"We are scheduled to break ground in September," Mayer added. "We hope to have the entire shell finished this fall, so we're mainly working on the interior come winter."

A grand opening for the 10,300 square-foot building has been planned for July 4, 2008.

The Philomath Scout Lodge will be on 58 acres on the east end of Philomath, and includes a pond. Campgrounds and trails will be developed, but much of the site will remain as natural habitat.

Local youth groups and other organizations will be able to use the lodge to study the local wildlife and setting. The lodge also will be available to rent for weddings, anniversary parties and other events.

The lodge also has received a $200,000 grant from the Collins Foundation, a $100,000 grant from the Ralph Hull Foundation and a $50,000 grant from the Spirit Mountain Community Fund.

Several local professionals are donating services to keep costs down, as well.

One hundred locals each donated $1,000 to help purchase the land the lodge will sit on in summer 2005. The acreage is worth more than $1 million, but the price tag was only $250,000 thanks to the generosity of a developer who owned the property.

The Ford Family Foundation has now contributed more than $1.25 million to the Philomath area in the last decade.

A call to the Roseburg-based philanthropy was not immediately returned. In a 2005 interview, a representative said the Ford Family Foundation had provided more than $750,000 to assist the community.

It has provided college scholarships, grants for area agencies, a leadership course for residents, a local parenting program and more.

The Ford Family Foundation was created in 1957 by Kenneth and Hallie Ford, who owned Roseburg Forest Products. Its current level of philanthropy dates to the 1990s.

The philanthropy now ranks among the largest in the state, and it has helped out nearly every rural community in Oregon.

Hallie Ford, Kenneth Ford's widow, died at age 102 last week, just one month after making the largest arts donation in Oregon history.

The foundation gave $15 million to the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland in late May.

For more information on the Philomath Scout Lodge, go to www.philomathscoutlodge.org. For more information on the Ford Family Foundation, go to www.tfff.org.

Kyle Odegard covers the city of Corvallis and Benton County government. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.