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© 2011 Mid-county MEMO
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Memo Pad...

To serve the community, the Mid-county Memo offers a section to highlight upcoming special events, celebrations of milestones in our readers' lives, those seemingly small accomplishments that often do not receive the recognition they deserve, and everyday events to share with friends and neighbors.

Memo Pad submissions for the October issue are due Thursday, Sept. 15. For best results, e-mail Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. Or mail submissions to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave, Portland, OR 97230. To leave a phone message, call 503-287-8904. The fax number is 503-249-7672.

Include the food
To reduce pressure on landfills and create compost for yards and gardens, all Portland residents will begin adding food scraps to yard debris on Oct. 31.
COURTESY METRO
New Eastside Rates Beginning October 31, 2011

Common Service Levels Monthly Rate
20 gallon can ... $23.70
20 gallon cart ... $24.20
32 gallon can ... $27.00
35 gallon cart ... $28.50
60 gallon cart ... $37.45
90 gallon cart ... $43.40
once-a-month can ... $19.95*
once-a-month cart ... $21.25*
recycling + composting only ... $17.35

*This includes garbage collection every four weeks, or 13 collections per year.
On Oct. 31, all Portland single-family households (and residents living in buildings with four or fewer units) will be able to place all food scraps (including meat and bones), along with yard debris, in their green Portland Composts roll carts. Composting food scraps reduces waste and creates nutrient-rich compost for fertilizing yards and gardens. Compost helps plants grow, prevents erosion, retains water and blocks disease and weeds.

As part of the new curbside collection service, the green Portland Composts roll cart will increase to weekly pick up, and garbage collection will be changed to every-other-week, allowing additional food scrap and yard debris collection without raising prices for most residents. The blue roll cart and yellow glass recycling bin will continue to be collected every week.

To help you prepare for these changes, a kitchen pail and information packet will be delivered to your home with systematic instructions for composting food scraps in your green Portland Composts roll cart. You will also receive information to help you select service that works for your household.

For more information, visit portlandcomposts.com.

Food pantry likely to have empty shelves
The enduring struggle to help folks in need put food on the family table just got a little tougher at SnowCap Community Charities.

SnowCap Executive Director Judy Alley said the agency has been informed the Oregon Food Bank will be providing substantially less for the coming year. “Almost half the food SnowCap distributes comes from the Oregon Food Bank,” she said. The remainder comes from donations received from east Multnomah County residents and businesses. Alley also said foods provided under the US. Agriculture Department Emergency Food Assistance Program will be reduced by 40 to 50 percent. Support from the Federal Emergency Administration will be eliminated.

In addition, perishable foods donated by local grocers are expected to drop by 10 per cent due to several factors, including stricter inventory controls and conservative purchasing practices. The total monetary value of the reductions is more than $235,000.

SnowCap is looking to expand requests for donated food to fill the gap and keep its pantry open and operating.

“While food drives alone cannot alleviate the anticipated shortfall, we look forward to increased community food donations to lessen the pain,” Alley said. “Each can of donated food takes on special importance as we face this new unexpected challenge.”

SnowCap will not implement any new feeding initiatives and the agency will begin to scale back some activities. It has been considering a special seniors only shopping time. “Unfortunately, we will not be able to move forward with this plan at this time,” Alley announced. She said SnowCap would give first priority to maintaining regular pantry operations.

“Reduction in the amount of food available to each family is inevitable,” she continued. SnowCap will endeavor to continue the delivery of food boxes to more than 800 housebound seniors each month.

Famous fight trainer Freddie Roach poses with amateur boxer Lorenzo Caldera, a 16-year-old Parkrose High School junior, at the 2011 Junior Olympic National Championships held last month in Mobile, Alabama.
COURTESY RAY MONGE
Founded 44 years ago, SnowCap Community Charities is a philanthropic organization that provides food boxes, clothing, energy assistance, advocacy and other services to the poor in much of east Multnomah County, including the cities of Fairview, Wood Village, Troutdale and Gresham.

Local fighter wins Junior Olympic Bronze Medal
Lorenzo Caldera, a 16-year old junior at Parkrose High School won the bronze medal at the Junior Olympic National boxing championship in Mobile Alabama. Over two hundred male and female fighters vied for gold silver and bronze medals in 30 weight classes, highlighting future Olympians and world champions. Twelve boxers vied for gold in Caldera's 132 lb. weigh class. He lost a 23-18 decision to Austin Dulay of Hendersonville, Tenn., winning the bronze. Since returning, Caldera is training for an October bout.

Shaver Elementary Community Garden officially opens

Students, parents and volunteers turned out to mark the day and cut some ribbon; from left, students Mark Dois and Samuel Reed, parent volunteers Claudia Carrillo and Maria Gonzales and students Carson Shaffer, Alex and Brandon Vargas.
Mid-county /Memo photo/Tim Curran
Held last month, the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Shaver Elementary Community Garden celebrates the nine raised beds (including one for disabled access), a garden shed and walking paths built over the spring. Students have taken ownership of the garden planting, maintaining and creating art for it. Over the summer, students and volunteers watered and tended the garden until school resumed this month. Detailed in the June Mid-county Memo article, “Kids dig gardens,” the garden is a partnership between Shaver Elementary, Schools Uniting Neighborhoods and GrowingGardens, growing-gardens.org.

Healthy, sustainable outdoor living spaces
East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District offers free naturescaping and rain garden workshops to teach residents how to transform traditional yards to healthy outdoor living spaces. These workshops guide the way to chemical free, water conserving plantings that attract wildlife.

Bring this knowledge to your neighborhood by hosting an EMSWCD workshop. They manage registration and promotion, providing professional presenters, fliers, and workbooks. You reserve a workshop location; help get the word out by distributing workshop fliers, and assist with day of workshop needs.

To schedule a workshop in your neighborhood, contact Katie Meckes at katie@emswcd.org or 503-935-5368. To check out the current workshop schedule and register online visit emswcd.org.

Multnomah County Library chosen for national science and literacy initiative
Multnomah County Library is forming a partnership with Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, Schools Uniting Neighborhoods, and A.K.A. Science to launch an innovative after-school and family-focused science and literacy educational effort titled LEAP Into Science. The library is one of 10 centers nationwide selected for the partnership. The partnership's central goal is to demonstrate how museums, libraries and other educational institutions across the country can work together to enhance the capacity of underserved communities to engage children and families in science.

The LEAP Into Science program model combines the Franklin Institute's strengths in informal science programs with the library's expertise in youth literacy programming and its existing citywide after-school program.

With this grant, the library's School Corps staff will create new programs emphasizing the connection between science, literacy and public library resources. School Corps provides after-school programming to SUN schools throughout the school year.

The library's School Corps will start presenting the programs in SUN schools this fall, and the programs will continue throughout the 2011-12 school year. Multnomah County Library will also begin offering new science programs at library locations based upon the LEAP Into Science effort. That programming is tentatively scheduled to begin in January or February 2012.

Funded by a $1.17 million dollar National Science Foundation grant in 2007, LEAP Into Science aims to achieve the following impacts:

•Increase science interest, understanding and engagement by involving underserved families in cross-generational science experiences.

•Make science accessible to a diverse audience by bringing science activities into community settings and promoting the use of museums and libraries.

•Build community capacity and provide training and experience in informal science education to library after-school staff and children's librarians.

Green Street Projects
In the planning for over a year, eight stormwater collection points, or green street facilities are being constructed on Northeast 122nd Avenue between Fremont and Shaver streets this month.
Brandt Construction has begun work on green street facilities - formerly known as bioswales - on Northeast 122nd Avenue between Fremont and Shaver streets. While the hope is to get as much work done as possible before students head back to school, the project will not be completed by then. The contractor plans to get facilities closest to Parkrose High School done before school starts.

Initial sawcutting was done on the east side of the avenue, followed by cutting on the west side. No vehicle traffic lanes are likely to be closed during preliminary work, however, the sidewalk, parking and bike lanes will be closed.

Signs will be set out to notify the public of work in the road. There will also be signs to let cyclists and pedestrians know of closures ahead. Plates and fencing are used over and around excavations during non-construction hours.

The bus stop on the east side of 122nd Avenue near Shaver Street will move a little further south to accommodate the new stormwater runoff collector. The work on 122nd Avenue is expected to take at least 10 weeks.

Upon completion, Brandt will install 10 curb extensions with planters and five curb extensions on Northeast Fremont Street between 156th and 158th Avenues.

For more information or if you have questions, call Environmental Services' Kate Goudschaal at 503-823-2827 or e-mail her at kate.goudschaal@portlandoregon.gov.
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