Portland Oregon newspaper 2003 archives





Vol. 18, No. 12 • Mailed monthly to over 12, 400 homes in the Gateway & Parkrose Communities Free • MAY 2003

	FEATURE ARTICLES	Memo Calendar	Memo Pad	Business Memo's	Loaves & Fishes	Letters	Home


		Parkrose mother serves community

		Summer begins at Parkrose Community Fair

		I-205 light rail concerns Gateway leaders

		“Prevention” programs disappear in social service cuts

		Fun-O-Rama returns with a host of family oriented events

		Wired remains wired

		Corrections

		OPERATION MEMO Pen-Pal


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Parkrose mother serves community

Meals on wheels helps teach daughters about volunteering

DARLENE VINSON
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO

Annalise (age 2) and Shelby (age 5) assist their mom, Sue Lampe, with meal delivery to senior
citizen Alma Sprague.

MEMO PHOTO: TIM CURRAN

Sue Lampe grew up serving others as a Campfire Girl. A couple of years ago this Parkrose resident realized she missed volunteer work and went in search of a project she could be involved in with her young daughter, Shelby, then 3 years old. At a community event at the Oregon Convention Center she met Mary Lou See, Director of the Loaves and Fishes Cherry Blossom Center.

Each Tuesday, Lampe visits 15-20 seniors to deliver a wholesome meal and share some time. Shelby, now 5, and younger daughter Annalise, age 2 accompany their Mom. The girls have come to know the people to whom they deliver by their animals. There is the fishpond house for example, where Mom delivers the meal while the girls check in on the fish.

Lampe is a stay at home Mom, who values these special outings with her girls. She believes ‘kids should give back too’. Because they began helping their Mom so young, Lampe says her girls simply believe that one day each week is spent delivering food to others. The seniors enjoy the contact with the kids and Lampe believes her girls benefit from the exposure to seniors.

One of their Tuesday stops is to the home of Alma Sprague who describes herself as an 82-year-old sports fan. When the Memo called to interview her, she was switching between a Portland Trailblazers game and a Seattle Mariners baseball game on television. Sprague, a 15-year resident of the Mall 205 area, worked for 22 years as the supervisor of the dietary department at Portland Adventist Hospital. With this background, we thought we were asking a loaded question when we inquired about the food provided by Meals On Wheels. Sprague didn’t miss a beat. ‘They do an amazing job serving well balanced meals with nice servings of vegetables’, she said. Even when she does not feel like cooking, she says she knows she will have at least one good meal each weekday.

Sprague enjoys seeing Shelby and Annalise each week and says because their mom involved them in volunteering so young, they think it’s what everyone does. She is also quick to praise Sue for the homemade pumpkin pies she prepares for all those on her delivery route the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Loaves and Fishes enriches the lives of seniors and assists them in maintaining independence by making nutritious food, social contact and other resources easily accessible. They accomplish this through an organization that is community based, emphasizes volunteer involvement and is financially sound. Volunteers deliver hot noon meals each weekday to homebound seniors 60 years old or older. In addition, Loaves and Fishes serves a noon lunch at the Cherry Blossom Senior Services Office in the East Portland Community Center, 740 S.E. 106th Ave. For more information or to volunteer, call 503-256-2381 or visit their website at www.loavesandfishesonline.com.