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| Vol. 21, No. 9 • Mailed monthly to over 13,500 homes in the Gateway & Parkrose Communities Free • JANUARY 2006 | ||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLES | |
Memo Calendar | Memo Pad | Business Memos | Loaves & Fishes | Letters | Home |
Memo Pad (continued)
The Mall 205 and the University District branch of Unitus Community Credit Union reached a giving milestone this year by asking members and employees to donate non-perishable food and diapers. Unitus collected nearly 2,900 items and raised over $3,000 for the local non-profit SnowCap Community Charities. Each year, Unitus collects these staples in hopes that individuals and families in need don’t have to go without the essentials during the holiday season. “One of the most important credit union philosophies is ‘People Helping People,’” explained Patricia Smith, president and CEO of Unitus. “As a credit union, we’re proud to devote our time and attention-particularly during the holidays-to families struggling to get by. SnowCap is a wonderful organization providing multiple services to families and individuals who are at risk in our community. That’s just one of many reasons why we continue to get involved with SnowCap year after year,” continued Smith. In addition to collecting non-perishable food items and diapers, both branches of Unitus donated $5 for each membership account and checking account opened between Nov.14 and Dec. 16. SnowCap has been serving the underserved for close to 40 years, providing food, clothing and resources to over 4,000 underprivileged families in Multnomah County each year. To learn more about SnowCap or Unitus Community Credit Union’s work with SnowCap, visit www.unitusccu.com or contact Mandi Linstrom at 503-227-5571, ext. 346. Urban forestry award nominations sought The Oregon Department of Forestry’s urban foresters would like to remind you that it is time to be thinking about the 12th annual Urban and Community Forestry Awards. Nominations must be received by Jan. 13. Now is your chance to help recognize those who go the extra mile to promote healthy forests in Oregon’s urban areas. Do you know of a group or an individual in your community who has been instrumental in local tree issues in 2005? Join Oregon Community Trees and the Oregon Department of Forestry in recognizing the accomplishments of individuals, groups and businesses that have been leaders in enhancing and maintaining Oregon’s community forests. “With higher awareness comes healthier urban forests,” says Katie Kause, urban forester with ODF. “Let’s all consider who in our community - a person, school, organization or agency - we can recognize for their work to better our urban forests.” Award recipients for 2005 will be announced during Oregon Arbor Week, April 2 through 8. Individual or group nominations will be judged on leadership, commitment, innovation and impact. Recipients will also be showcased during the Oregon Urban Forestry Conference at the Salem Conference Center on June 1. Nomination forms are available online at www.oregoncommunitytrees.org. All nominations must be submitted to Oregon Community Trees at P.O. Box 13074, Salem, OR 97309 and received by Jan. 13. For further information on the Oregon Urban Forestry Awards Program, please contact OCT Executive Director Gail Gredler at 503-580-2960. Volunteers needed for Advisory Committee Multnomah County Citizen Involvement Committee is seeking volunteers to work on the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee for the Office of School and Community Partnerships. The Department of School and Community Partnerships services include weatherization and energy programs, emergency housing and the Community Development Block Grant Program, the Schools Uniting Neighborhoods Initiative, family resource centers, early childhood programs as well as the Caring Communities programs. Citizen Budget Advisory Committees work with managers and staff of county offices and departments and directly advise the county commissioners. Committee members provide expert advice on priorities during the budget development process. They also advise departments and offices throughout the budget year as to how the budget implementation is going. According to Committee Chairwoman Jessica Hamilton, “As a resident of Multnomah County you have the right to say how you want your tax money spent, to plan for the future, to recommend programs, operations and policies and to advise on budget and services. CBACs provide you a way to make your voice heard.” For more information contact the Multnomah County Office of Citizen Involvement at 503-988-3450 or e-mail citizen.involvement@co.multnomah.or.us. Noise Advisory Committee seeks members Neighbors of Portland International Airport interested in serving on the PDX Citizen Noise Advisory Committee are invited to apply through Jan. 6. Two positions are open on the 15-member volunteer committee, which advises the Port of Portland on aircraft noise issues and noise management programs. The committee represents various cities and geographical areas within Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington. For balanced representation, selection will give preference to residents of Concordia and Wilkes neighborhoods, followed by Kenton, West Hills, Maywood Park and downtown Vancouver. Selected committee members are asked to attend one three-hour meeting per month, as well as an annual one-day retreat. Occasionally, members are asked to present information to their neighborhood associations, or provide updates to interested members of the community. For more information, or application forms that are due Jan. 6, please contact the Port’s Rachel Wray at 503-460-4073, or rachel.wray@portofportland.com. Application forms are also available at www.portofportland.com. TriMet gets Googled The popular Web search site, Google, has partnered with TriMet to provide transit trip-planning information to its Web site visitors throughout the world. The new service, called Google Transit, is now being tested at google.com/transit. While TriMet is the only transit system on the site so far, Google may eventually expand the service to include cities around the world. Last summer, TriMet contacted Google, which is widely recognized for its search engine and mapping services and let them know TriMet’s data was available if Google wanted to use it for transit planning. “Having our transit system on a Web site recognized worldwide is a great advantage to potential riders who are planning to visit our region and want to know what transit alternatives are available here,” said Bibiana McHugh, manager of enterprise systems at TriMet. Some of the unique features and advantages of Google’s system include cost comparisons between riding transit and driving, detailed satellite images along routes to help identify where you want to go, as an internationally known search engine, travelers could eventually go to Google for one-stop transit planning, instead of searching for and connecting to individual transit websites. Because Google’s trip planner is still in testing, riders are encouraged to go to TriMet.org to plan their trips. Vacancy available on advisory committee The Department of Land Conservation and Development invites interested citizens in Oregon to apply for an at-large vacancy on the state’s Citizen Involvement Advisory Committee. The CIAC advises the Land Conservation and Development Commission and local governments on citizen involvement policy in land-use planning. CIAC is a permanent committee charged with writing materials to educate and inform Oregonians about citizen involvement, gathering and disseminating information about citizen involvement techniques, and advising LCDC and state and local officials about ways to enhance citizen involvement. The CIAC is comprised of eight volunteer members, one from each of Oregon’s five Congressional districts, and three at-large. Committee members must be available for bi-monthly meetings in Salem and have sufficient time for the committee’s work. Additional information is available at www.oregon.gov/LCD/citizeninvolvement.sthtml. Completed applications must be received by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 10. |
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