 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
FEATURE ARTICLES | |
Memo Calendar | Memo Pad | Business Memo's | Loaves & Fishes | Letters | Home |
Families need your help
With Oregon leading the states in hunger and unemployment, it’s not surprising that the need for assistance has also grown. Snow-CAP provides many of these needed services. During an average day at Snow-CAP, 102 families receive food assistance, 9 families have their heating bill paid, 23 children receive needed clothing items, one senior or child has a prescription paid for, 14 families harvest vegetables from the community garden and two homeless people looking for work take a shower. Help keep these programs up and running.
Snow-CAP has many volunteer opportunities for community members. Current needs are for interviewers, pantry workers, truck drivers, and people who speak Russian or Spanish to help non-English speaking families. If you would like to volunteer, please call Danni at 503-674-8785 ext. 19. Snow-CAP also accepts donations of food and clothing items, and is currently in need of Bibles. For more information on how to donate, please call 503-674-8785.
Plant a tree for the future
There is still time to request a street tree if you are a resident of the Parkrose Neighborhood or the Wilkes Community. The Friends of Trees is sponsoring neighborhood tree plantings for areas that are part of the Columbia Slough Watershed.
Volunteers will gather on Saturday, April 12 to help residents plant their trees and give them everything they need to get off to a good start. Follow-up monitoring for a year is part of the deal. You can choose from a number of good quality, well-sized trees worth anywhere from $150-450, and the cost to you is only $20. Your order needs to be in as soon as possible so that your name can be included on the order list.
If you have questions, want to volunteer to help, want to donate toward the cost of a neighbor’s tree or if you want to request a street or front yard tree for your home, please call soon. Renters should contact their landlord and encourage them to take advantage of this opportunity.
For the Parkrose Neighborhood, contact Christine Czarnecka, Parkrose Target Area, FamilyWorks: 503-256-2330 x26 or kczarnecka@lcsnw.org.
For the Wilkes Community, contact Alice Blatt at 503-253-6247 or email aliceb@pacifier.com.
Open a world of words
Volunteers are needed in the Mid-county area to tutor adults who need to learn or improve their reading and writing skills. Oregon Literacy, Inc. offers this opportunity to improve someone else’s life while enriching your own. Become a volunteer tutor! There is a special need for tutors to help with adults who are learning English as a second language. For more information, please call the Oregon Literacy Line at 1-800-322-8715.
Everybody Reads
The Multnomah County Library and the Library Foundation are sponsoring Portland’s first community-wide book discussion called Everybody Reads. The January selection is the acclaimed novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. Set in 1940’s Louisiana, the book depicts an innocent young black man sentenced to death. Book discussion groups at dozens of libraries will be participating in this community project, including Gregory Heights and Midland Libraries.
More than 60 free Everybody Reads events will take place in January and February, including discussions, film screenings, performances, and community forums. The book’s author, Ernest J. Gains, will visit Portland on Feb. 5 for a talk at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets for that event are available for $15 at 1-800-992-TIXX. For more information, please call 503-988-5402 or go to the library’s website at www.multcolib.org/reads.
Elders in Action offers help for seniors
Elders in Action has specially trained volunteer Ombudsman available to assist seniors and people with disabilities who may be experiencing problems in the areas of healthcare, housing and elder crime and abuse.
These Ombudsman can provide problem solving assistance, advocate for client’s rights, safety, dignity and well being. They provide information and link clients with community services, provide emotional and peer support, and provide physical support in making phone calls, filling out paperwork, or accompanying clients to appointments.
Elders in Action volunteers are also available to speak to senior and community groups about Medicare fraud and abuse and to alert them to swindles and fraudulent practices aimed at seniors.
For more information on Ombudsman Services, or to arrange for a speaking engagement call the Elders in Action Ombudsman Services Line at 503-823-5293.
You can also get involved over the internet. Sign up today to participate in public surveys about issues that affect seniors. Your voice will help Elders in Action to decide what issues to focus on, and you will also be more informed about current legislation that might affect you. Sign up today in an e-mail addressed to volunteer@eldersaction.org.
Mt. Hood program receives grant
A Mt. Hood Community College program serving women who are re-entering the workforce has been awarded a $7,500 grant from Verizon.
The funds from this grant will be used to provide financial assistance to help high-achieving women of the Transitions and Transiciones (Spanish-speaking) programs pursuing degrees in math and science-related programs.
“Single parents in the Transitions/Transiciones program feel pressure to drop out of school and take any job,” said Transitions Coordinator Cynthia Dettman. “This grant will help a significant number of students with funds for child care and other expenses, and allow them to stay in school and complete degrees that will lead to family-wage jobs.”
For more information contact Dettman at 503-491-7687.
Help keep local people warm this winter
The Heating Specialist, Inc. is teaming up with the Portland Rescue Mission to keep Portland’s homeless warm this winter. Your donations of coats, warm winter clothing and blankets can be picked up at your home from Monday, Jan. 6 through Friday, Jan. 17. The Heating specialist will pick up donations and they will be delivered to the poor and homeless at the Portland Rescue Mission on Burnside. Needed items include coast, scarves, wool socks, sweatshirts, shirts, pants, shoes, warm blankets and sleeping bags.
To donate, call three days ahead to arrange pick-up. On the appointed day, simply bag or box your donations, mark them “Portland Rescue Mission” and leave them outside your front door. Your will receive a tax-deductible receipt from the Portland Rescue Mission when your items are picked up. Help keep local people warm this winter.
MEMO Advertising | MEMO Archives | MEMO Web Neighbors | MEMO Staff | Home