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Recycled oil warms Parkrose residents

ROGER ANDERSON
SPECIAL TO THE MID-COUNTY MEMO

Kurt Lee, tire technician and oil change specialist at Bob Brown Tire Center in Parkrose, changes a customer's engine oil. Oregon HEAT, a statewide non-profit, recycles all BBTC used oil in their oil-recycling program, receiving funds to help low-income families with emergency energy assistance. The Parkrose business is one of more than 40 participating Oregon locations in the program.
COURTESY ROGER ANDERSON
A white Volvo sits elevated on a vehicle lift in a service bay at Bob Brown Tire Center in Parkrose. A rolling canister is used to collect used motor oil while the attending technician positioned beneath the vehicle is busy preparing for a tune-up. The used oil drained from this vehicle will help make a positive difference for east Portland low-income families in crisis and needing emergency assistance with their energy bill.

Since Bob Brown Tire Center first opened in the Parkrose neighborhood in 1978, they have been helping their neighbors through support of local nonprofit organizations. “Bob Brown Tire Center has always been big on helping the community,” says Internet Sales Manager, Debbie Codino. When first approached by the statewide nonprofit Oregon HEAT (Home Energy Assistance Team) to join an innovative oil-recycling program that benefits at-risk households, they jumped at the opportunity. BBTC, the first business to sign-on to the new program, was instrumental in helping Oregon HEAT launch the program.

The oil recycling program allows businesses which generate used oil to do something good with it with little effort or investment. Oil Re-Refining Company, based in Portland, picks up the oil on behalf of Oregon HEAT and pays a salvage value, which then is pooled with other emergency energy assistance funds in Multnomah County. The result is that businesses like Bob Brown Tire Center can make an impact on both the community and the environment with something that they would ordinarily consider waste.

One person benefitting from that impact is Parkrose resident Elizabeth Hughes, who needed emergency help with her electric bill. She works two part-time jobs to support herself and her son - who has a chronic lung and sinus disease that requires her attention. This winter, when the utility bills mounted up, and Hughes could not afford to keep her heat and lights on, Oregon HEAT and its community partner, Human Solutions, were able to step in and help Hughes avoid a shut off with a $250 assistance payment to her utility provider. “I believe I can make it with the help I've received from Oregon HEAT to get through the rough spot we had this winter,” said Hughes. She added that the emergency assistance has given her the ability to put more food on the table, to have a little more bus fare to get to work and to buy new shoes for her son.

The used oil donations from Bob Brown Tire Center are vital when it comes to helping people in Hughes's situation. General Manager Kelly Brown said, “If something like used oil can help someone in need, that's great. The oil is going to be recycled anyway, so why not put it to good use and help the community. The need is there.” With thousands of households in Multnomah County at risk of not being able to keep their heat and lights on, the need is indeed greater than ever.

Adds Brown, “We're happy to give back to our neighbors, and the Oregon HEAT oil program makes it convenient to do just that.” Since the program began in 2008, it has recycled more than 114,000 gallons of oil. In the 2010 calendar year, over 48,000 gallons was recycled.

The program is available to auto shops, companies or government agencies with a fleet of vehicles, or any other business that has used petroleum to recycle. Statewide, the Oregon HEAT Oil Recycling Program currently has 43 program donors, from Beaverton to Burns.

Individuals who need their home heating oil disposed of - when switching from oil heat to natural gas - can also donate their oil to Oregon HEAT. To donate, or learn more about Oregon HEAT, call 503-612-3766, or e-mail roger_anderson@oregonheat.org.

Oregon HEAT's Web site is www.oregonheat.org.
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