History

Podkrepa began in 1939 in the home of Radi & Petia Cherkezov as a social gathering for Bulgarians and Macedonians new to the United States. Following the suggestion of Bishop Andrei, of Sofia, Bulgaria, on his visit to Portland, Podkrepa was registered with the State of Oregon as a fraternal organization.

Within a year, the social organization grew from 25 to 93 official members (at that time, only men were listed as members but, counting women and children, total membership was roughly 250). Because of their size, the group started looking for a lot to build a community building on.

They chose Podkrepa’s current location because many members lived nearby. In 1946, the first round of pledges to raise money for the land brought in $3,750. The lot was then purchased in 1950 and construction began. In 1952 the second round of funding collected $2,531 to build the building. Members and local businesses in the area, that were supported by the members, donated to Podkrepa. The members did as much as of the work as possible to help to keep costs down.

On June 8, 1952 the current meeting hall on Killingsworth was dedicated with Rev Nicholas Levko, Pastor of Russian Orthodox church officiating.

1950s the group decided to meet twice a month, once for business and the other purely social. Later, they opted for monthly meetings and a variety of special events. Podkrepa has grown, throughout the years, to include events like annual fundraising teas, holiday bazaars, folk dancing, concerts, holiday celebrations, other celebrations, frequent socials, and regular meetings. That format has continued to the present day.

In 2011 Podkrepa officially became a non-profit charitable organization in the State of Oregon.