Fall Cleaning Incentive: Good places for your used books to go

You hear a lot about spring cleaning, but Fall is really a great time . . . it's still warm enough to keep the house open and move about freely, and there's no rain or mud on everything. 

So go through and purge your no-longer-needed books and set them aside for one or two great causes:  Friends of Salem Public Library or, for certain titles, the Oregon Women Lawyers Society's "Coffee Creek Book Drive." Coffee Creek is the Oregon women's prison.

The OWLS Coffee Creek Book Drive, which collects books to donate to the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility located in Wilsonville, will take place from October 1, 2011 through October 15, 2011.  We are searching for volunteers to coordinate drop-off sites for the books.

If you would like to be a collection volunteer, coordinating a drop-off site for books, please contact Amy at Amy_Blake@ord.uscourts.gov or Jennifer at Jhunking@Gattilaw.com.

If you might be interested, but need more information, feel free to contact us with questions.  We are particularly interested in securing volunteers in busy locations, such as the county courthouses, and in far flung locations, so that donors have easy access to the collections sites.

Thank You!
Amy Blake and Jennifer Hunking
Coffee Creek Book Drive co-coordinators

The Best Way to Learn: Help Others Learn & Do

To volunteer or for more info
Contact:  Janet Spingath, Volunteer Coordinator
jspingath@marionpolkfoodshare.org   503-581-3855 x311

Gardens Program Volunteer Opportunities

1.       Community Garden Coordinator: Coordinate operations at a particular community garden. Duties include handling plot rental applications, assigning garden plots, setting garden guidelines, organizing work days, supervising work day volunteers. 5 hour/week commitment. Commitment of one growing season preferred.

2.       Garden Instructor: Host a weekly afterschool garden program for students from a local school. Collaborate with other staff and instructors from the School-Garden Alliance, a garden education program provided by Marion-Polk Food Share and the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation. One day week per commitment. Approx. 3 hours per day.  Commitment of one growing season preferred.

3.       Edible Landscaper: Assist with upkeep, expansion and design of Marion-Polk Food Share’s Edible Landscape Demonstration Project. 2 to 3 hours per week commitment, on an ongoing basis.

4.       Work Party Captain: Lead large workdays at various community gardens throughout the year. Supervise groups of volunteers, assign volunteers to appropriate garden tasks. As available, opportunities primarily on Saturdays in Spring, Summer and Fall.

5.       Garden Educator: Share your gardening expertise through workshops, free and open to the public, on various gardening topics. AND/OR: Be available as a resource to beginning gardeners in community gardens. As available.

6.       Garden Booth Attendant: Represent the gardens program at public events. Manage informational table, be able to talk about our program with the public and distribute print materials. As available, primarily weekends.

7.       Gardens Resource Assistant: Assist Garden Resource Coordinator with pick up and drop off of garden supplies. Must be able to drive a truck. As available.

8.       Specialized Skill Volunteer: Offer volunteer services with a special skill, such as use of a tractor or rototiller, irrigation installation, carpentry, small engine repair, etc… As available.

9.       Garden Consultant: Utilize gardening expertise to assist in design of community gardens. Troubleshoot gardening challenges at community gardens, such as pest infestation or low soil quality. As available.

10.   All Purpose Gardener: Help harvest, water, weed, or whatever odd jobs need done at a community garden. May be assigned to any garden(s). As available.

11.   Garden-to-Kitchen Volunteer: Work with Community Gardens and Community Kitchen programs to provide seasonal cooking or preservation classes and/or seasonal recipes and food preparation resources for the public. As available.

Related articles

• Inheriting a Community Garden (gloriousfoodies.wordpress.com)

City Boards & Commissions: Applicants needed now

After seeing the City Council majority's disdain for actual public participation and its shabby, shameful treatment of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on the Minto-Brown easements sellout, it's tempting to ignore this notice about boards and commissions vacancies. But if there's anything Salem needs more than for good people to get more involved, I don't know what it is, so here's the announcement.

The [Salem] Boards and Commissions Committee is scheduled to meet Thursday, November 17th, at noon, to reappoint and appoint members. I am asking for your help with recruiting for new applicants.

Listed below Current Boards and Commissions vacancies -

• Airport Advisory Commission (1)
• Citizen Advisory Board (1)
• Citizen Budget Committee (1) - Ward 5
• Citizen Police Review Board (1)
• Downtown Advisory (1) - Business Owner within the Downtown District
• Housing Advisory Commission (4) - Senior, Social Services, Housing, Development and Finance, and (1) recommendation from the City of Keizer
• Housing and Urban Development Advisory Commission (3) - Housing, Neighborhood Association, Human Rights
• Human Rights and Relations Advisory Commission (7) ... 1 is for a student/youth
• North Gateway Advisory Board (1)
• Salem Library Advisory Board (1)
• Senior Center Advisory Board (3) - At large
• West Salem Advisory Board (1) - At large

The Boards and Commissions website has been updated with current vacancy information and applicants can apply on-line or print off the form and mail it in the City Manager's Office, 555 Liberty St., SE - Rm 220, Salem, Oregon 97301

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Linda Cate
Mayor and City Manager's Office
503-588-6255 x7269

Spend a few hours this weekend doing some good

Image via Wikipedia

And get rewarded with better health and happiness and some nice fruit to boot!

We are getting calls daily from people in our counties wanting people to come harvest produce from their yards and gardens. Our current list is posted below. If you would like to help bring in harvest from any of these sites, please call the person first and get the specific time and address. You will be entering their property at your own risk. You may keep some produce for yourself. We cannot distribute any fruit that has fallen on the ground. Please take the food you have picked for the Food Share to the closest food pantry or to Marion Polk Food Share at 1660 Salem Industrial Drive. We ask that you have it weighed there, if possible. You may find a list of Food Pantries at our website www.marionpolkfoodshare.org. Thank you in advance for volunteering to help bring the harvest to the hungry!

• 8/24 J. Shrum 503-743-2776 Verda Lane Overabundance of pears on one large tree. Have ladders, bring boxes.
• 8/26 J. Abel 503-581-8371 Jelden St NE One pear tree, one large blueberry bush. Has boxes.
• 8/24 T. Freety 503-507-0729 Laurel Ave NE One large pear tree. Has ladder, bring boxes. No spray.
• 8/26 L. Engstrom 503-378-7055 Doaks Ferry Rd NW Large pear tree. No spray. Has ladder. Can get boxes.
• 8/25 D. Gleason 503-986-5640 21st St. NE One plum tree. No ladder. Can get boxes.
• 8/24 Melrose Farm 503-362-2398 72nd Ave, Aumsville. Blueberries. No boxes.
• 8/24 D. Rundell 503-363-4305 Idylwood Dr. SE One pear tree. Bring boxes.
• 8/24 B. Wright 503-581-3340 Brink Ave. SE One pear tree. Has ladder. Has 5 gal buckets.
• 8/24 Sheryl 503-371-9061 Filbert tree.
• 8/27 Eagan Gardens 503-393-2131 River Road NE. Pear orchard. No spray. Has ladders. No boxes.
• 8/24 M Steiber 503-588-7048 Gravenstein apples.
• 8/24 S. Diaz 503-269-0189. One pear tree.

Janet Spingath
Community Partnerships
2009 Chefs' Nite Out tickets on sale!
Phone: 503.581.3855 x311 Web: http://www.marionpolkfoodshare.org/
Mail: 1660 Salem Industrial Drive NE, Salem OR 97301

Marion-Polk Food Share: Leading the fight to END hunger in Marion and Polk counties
...because no one should be hungry. Help END hunger. Donate now!

More gleaning!

Image via Wikipedia

There is a pear orchard at Eagan Gardens ready for picking. The address is 9805 River Road NE. No spray has been used on the trees for 15 years. Ladders are available, but no boxes. Please go and pick what you want and bring some to the Food Share. We have about a dozen other locations around town. For information, please contact Janet at Marion Polk Food Share using the contact information below. Thanks for helping bring in the harvest!

Janet Spingath
Community Partnerships
2009 Chefs' Nite Out tickets on sale! Phone: 503.581.3855 x311

Desperately Seeking Gleaners for Marion-Polk Food Share

Image by Steve Rhode via Flickr

Janet at MPFS writes:

Please forward this to anyone who might be interested in helping us. I am getting calls for help daily!

Urban fruit trees are starting to drop their fruit. Homeowners who can’t use the fruit are calling Marion Polk Food Share to donate this fresh produce to the food banks serving the hungry. Please help us get this harvest to them. We need small teams of people willing to pick fruit and get it to us. Harvesters are welcome to keep some for their own personal use too.

We have 8 locations with immediate need and more coming in every week. Please contact Janet to get the addresses. Thanks in advance for volunteering your time!

Janet Spingath
Community Partnerships

2009 Chefs' Nite Out tickets on sale!

Phone: 503.581.3855 Extension 311

Marion-Polk Food Share: Leading the fight to END hunger in Marion and Polk counties ...because no one should be hungry. Help END hunger. Donate now!

Blueberry Picking for Marion Polk Food Share

Pound for pound, one of the best foods in the world, and we live where they grow best. Image via Wikipedia

Bringing in the blueberries

WHEN: First thing in the morning (after 8 a.m. please), till dark, Wed Aug 26. Come when you can, pick what you can, and help get the harvest to the hungry.

WHERE: The homeowner has generously donated the produce from 1100 blueberry bushes. The bushes are located at 8098 Pudding Creek Dr. SE, Salem. To get there from Salem, head east on McClay Road until you get near McClay. Before the McClay Inn and before the railroad tracks, turn right on 82^nd St. Go ¾ of a mile and turn right on Pudding Creek Dr. SE. The berries are next to a U-Pick farm. On the other side of the berries is a manufactured home. There will be a Marion Polk Food Share sign on the road.

WHAT: You will see cardboard boxes to assemble and pick into, for the Food Share. In the box marked "VOLUNTEERS," you will find tape to make the boxes (flats), and waivers of liability. Please sign in, leave the paperwork in the box, and start picking. Be sure to put tape over the holes in the boxes so berries won't fall out.

THEN WHAT: Pick into the boxes. You may keep a reasonable amount for your own home use. When a box is full, stack it with other boxes by the maple tree on the east side of the field. This tree is by the arborvitae hedge and is marked with something shiny. By stacking the boxes under the tree, where they can get air circulation out of the sun, they will remain relatively fresh till they can be picked up by Marion Polk Food Share the following morning. Thank you for your willingness to help!

Kids Bicycle Program in Salem

A recently appointed member of the Cherriots Board sends this encouraging message:

The Salvation Army in Salem has started a bicycle repair program to teach our residents and children some skills. They have also donated the repaired or reused bikes.

Anyone interested in volunteering, donating bikes or repair tools, money, or finding out more about the program may contact Chaplain Dan Reichman. His cell phone # is 503-999-0179.

--Kate Tarter