COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS
Portland Section NCJW continues their long tradition of providing volunteers to a variety of programs and agencies in both the Jewish and general community.
When we have ongoing commitments of support, we call these "our projects". Volunteers can perform in many different capacities: hands on work with people served in these programs, fund raising, advocacy, representing NCJW on an agency's Board, and/or acting as a liaison to our Board. Often our volunteer commitment goes hand in hand with our providing funds to meet some of the financial needs of these programs
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---------------------------------- ALERT: Federal, corporate and foundation donations for food subsidies and grants to the Oregon Food Bank have been reduced. This translates into a huge cost increase for NWPM to purchase food for their pantries. NWPM needs both food and cash donations - according to a report in The Oregonian, we have the nation's highest rate of child food insecurity, 30% of the state's youth aren't sure where their next meal is coming from.
The Oregon Food Bank Network distributed more than 1 million food boxes in 2010. ----------------------------------
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--------------------- GOOD NEWS!!
During the 2010-2011 season 85% of the Goose Hollow Shelter guests were placed in housing!! ---------------------
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Lift Urban Portland (A new name for NW Portland Ministries) A fund for providing emergency food to the Lift Urban Portland pantry, Kids Backpack Program, and home food box deliveries.
In January 2007, NCJW Portland Section made a generous gift of $10,050 to the NW Portland Ministries Emergency Food Box Program. The program had been administered by another agency which could no longer support it, so NWPM was taking it over. This began a collaboration with 12 other NW Portland religious institutions to provide emergency food boxes for NW Portland's working poor and elderly populations. Over the past 4 years the program has expanded to now include a warehouse, a pantry, delivered food boxes, school backpack program, daily hot lunches with Loaves and Fishes, festive holiday dinners, and a community garden plot. Volunteers for each of these endeavors are enthusiastically welcome.
For details please contact Kelly Caldwell at Kelly@nwpm.org or Nikki Director, NCJW Chair, at nkdirector@comcast.net or call (503) 703-5913.
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Goose Hollow Family Shelter
Founded in 1994, the Goose Hollow Family Shelter provides a safe and welcoming place for homeless families to stay at night from 6:30 pm to 7:30 am. There they have a place to sleep, shower, use laundry facilities, enjoy a nutritious dinner and a light breakfast. It is the only westside family shelter, and one of two in the entire city. The shelter, located in the First United Methodist Church at SW 18t th and Jefferson, like other shelters in the Multnomah County winter shelter network, operated for six months of the year – November through April.
In the fall of 2009, NCJW presented a $10,000 check from the Hilda Drum Bequest Fund to enable the shelter to stay open for one more month. Then, in the spring, the county announced it would pay for an eighth month. This year, Goose Hollow will host a full year of operation.
NCJW volunteers play a key role in the Goose Hollow program by forming several small groups of 3-4 women and then once a month each team prepares a meal in their home to serve to about 24 shelter guests.
Beyond being a meal provider, volunteers can serve as a "kid time" host, a a helping hand, or an overnight host.
For more information, please contact Susan Korey, NCJW Chair at Korey.susan@gmail.com.
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CLASSROOM LAW PROJECT
If you can walk and talk at the same time, there is a place for you in this new NCJW project. Training sessions are ongoing for courtroom tour guides at our historic Federal Courthouse. If you think you would enjoy working with students, teachers and chaperones once or twice a month from 8:30 to noon, hanging out in the courthouse, observing judges, attorneys, and our judicial system, and learning the scoop before it hits the morning papers- this is for you! Please contact Caryn May at crmpdx@q.com for more information.
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OJM VOLUNTEERS
After we emptied out our storage unit, we donated 16 bankers boxes full of NCJW archives to the Oregon Jewish Museum. Several NCJW volunteers labored for years to identify, catalog and carefully preserve our contribution to the museum's archive. These women had so much fun doing this job that they now volunteer weekly to work on the museums other donations. You can join them, training is included.
(Standing); from left- Leah Nepom, Carol Chestler, Shirley Rackner (Seated); from left- Sharon Tarlow, Rose Rustin
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