Correction to "LBFS Gleaner in the News" Blog Post

Linn Benton Food Share employee/driver Morrie Orth was misidentified as a gleaner in the Monday, March 18 "LBFS Gleaner in the News" blog post. We apologize for the mistake.

Local Businesses Step Up to Make Food Drive a Success

Trudy Powell (on behalf of the OSU Zoology and Biology departments) sent the following letter to the Corvallis Gazette-Times "Good Words" section regarding a food drive for Linn Benton Food Share:

Local businesses stepped up to make food drive a success

The Oregon State University Department of Zoology and the biology program are very grateful to the businesses that provided items for our February silent auction and houseplant sale fundraisers for the Governor’s State Employee Food Drive, which benefited Linn Benton Food Share.

Each year, Oregon State helps to feed the hungry in Linn and Benton counties through a variety of ways, including the annual Food Drive.

We want to thank American Dream Pizza, Bella Vino Gift Baskets, Browsers’ Bookstore, Clodfelter’s Public House, Creative Crafts and Frame Shop, Cyrano’s, Dream Dinners, Great Harvest Bread, Harrison House Bed & Breakfast, Local Boyz Hawaiian Café, Schmidt’s Garden Center, Soft Star Shoes, Squirrels Tavern, Staples and Tyee Wine Cellars for generously and enthusiastically partnering with us to raise money for those in need.

Trudy Powell for OSU Zoology and Biology

Many thanks to the generous businesses that made the food drive a success!

You can view the letter at the Corvallis Gazette-Times web site here.

CSC Youth Crews Prepare SAGE Garden for Spring

Community Service Consortium’s youth crews teamed up to celebrate AmeriCorps Week on Thursday, March 14th by completing a number of projects at the Corvallis SAGE (Starker Arts Garden for Education) garden, in cooperation with the Corvallis Environmental Center.

The YouthBuild, Natural Resource Crew, and Youth Garden crews built additional shed space, constructed a roof for a chicken coop, harvested winter kale, mulched multiple beds, turned some imposing compost piles, dug up and replanted perennials, assembled and varnished garden plot signs, and mowed and weedwhacked the one-acre community garden during the five-hour work party.

Corvallis Environmental Center Garden Manager Deanna Lloyd expressed her appreciation to the crews, stating that “it would have taken us weeks to accomplish what you all have done in one day. SAGE and our community really benefits from all the hard work you put in.”

While the day included a tremendous amount of work, there was still time for teachable moments. Natural Resource Crew member Aiden got a lesson from Lloyd in edible weeds, mustard and chard, and even got to take home some samples.

The youth crews all are part of the Oregon Youth Conservation Corps network, and enroll approximately 35 members between the ages of 16-24 throughout Linn, Benton, and Lincoln counties. Though each program has a different focus, all programs include opportunities for completing high school, building work-readiness skills and preparing for employment and college.

CSC YouthBuild AmeriCorps is based out of Linn County, and is a pre-apprenticeship program designed to help students earn their high school diplomas or GEDs, and gain occupational skills and work experience by building, repairing or renovating houses for low-income families.

Natural Resource Crews, based out of Lincoln County, provide youth with extensive science and environmental education through projects focused on natural resource conservation and habitat restoration. The crews complete conservation projects in natural areas throughout Lincoln County, partnering with organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State Parks, US Forest Service and local watershed councils.

The CSC Youth Garden crew, based out of Benton County, is responsible for caring for the CSC Youth Garden at the corner of 2nd and Western in Corvallis. The youth tend over 40 raised beds without the use of herbicides or pesticides. The sustainably raised produce is sold at the Corvallis Farmers’ Market throughout the year at their market booth.

The CSC Youth Crews look forward to working with the Corvallis Environmental Center on other projects, as well as other community-building activities throughout the year. 

For more information on Community Service Consortium’s Youth Programs, visit http://communityservices.us/education/detail/category/youth-programs/.

Community Services Consortium (CSC) is a state-designated Community Action Agency serving Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties with housing, nutrition, economic stability, and educational assistance programs since 1980. To support our Youth Programs or any of CSC’s poverty-fighting programs and services, visit our website at www.communityservices.us. Donations may be made through our website or mailed to our main office: Community Services Consortium, 245 Broadalbin Street, Suite 2A, Albany, OR 97321.

CSC Head Start Representatives Attend Winter Legislative Meeting

Melissa Wigmore and Saka Coy meet with
Oregon State Representative David Gromberg

CSC Head Start Parent Representative Melissa Wigmore and Teacher/Advocate Saka Coy attended the Oregon Head Start Association Winter Legislative Meeting held in Salem in February 2013. On Thursday February 7, they joined other Oregon Head Start staff and parents at the State Capital to meet with the State House and State Senate lawmakers. Meetings with Oregon State Representative David Gomberg from Lincoln City and Oregon State Senator Arnie Roblan from Coos Bay provided opportunities for Melissa to educate about the CSC Head Start program. Both lawmakers and their staff enthusiastically welcomed parents and staff into their chambers and listened to individual parent stories about Head Start. The lawmakers told Melissa and Saka that they fully support Head Start and will do all they can to protect future funding of all Head Start programs in Oregon.