Hotline For Flu Questions

News release issued by Oregon Department of Human Services.

Oregon public health offers nurse advice hotline for flu questions
These days, a simple fever raises questions: Do I have the H1N1 flu and if I do, should I go to the doctor?

Before you rush to the clinic or hospital, there’s a simple call you can make. Oregon Public Health Flu Hotline (1-800-978-3040) now has nurses to talk to about symptoms, prevention advice, concerns about flu exposure, taking care of others and when to see a doctor.
“Most people recover from the flu on their own with rest and fluids. But sometimes it’s helpful to talk to a medical professional to decide if you need to go to the doctor,” says Paul Cieslak, M.D., medical director for the Oregon public health immunization program.

The Oregon Public Health Flu Hotline is one-stop shopping for all your flu concerns. Operators can tell callers about vaccine availability and answer many basic flu questions. The new feature connects callers with a nurse who can provide medical advice about both seasonal and H1N1 flu. These services are available throughout the state, in nearly any language, and the call is free. It could save you a trip to the doctor or emergency room, and ease crowding so that health care providers can help the people who need it more quickly.

The Oregon Public Health Flu Hotline is open Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.; weekends and holidays 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. For additional information, visit www.flu.oregon.gov.

Congratulations Graduates

Graduates of the CSC Workforce & Education Program’s accelerated welding and fabrication training class received their certification November 5th after completing the course.

The certificates were handed out by Sue McGuire-Thompson, Operations Manager of the CSC Albany Office, and Dagmar Johnson, Linn Benton Community College, a partner in facilitating the class. Family members attended the graduation party where coffee and cake were served.

Community Services Consortium used stimulus money to pay for the class offered to displaced workers. The 20-week course is usually taught over an 18 month period. The graduates learned to weld and read blueprints in the focused course and they learned the process of fabrication.

“We wanted to develop a full training program that would help people get jobs in our local area. We talked to local businesses to help us determine the curriculum,“ said Sue McGuire-Thompson. “Now we will assist our graduates in developing their resumes and help them find jobs.”

A Few Good Offers

Linn Benton Food Share benefits from the generosity of the following businesses who are holding food drives or special events. You can benefit, too, if you look for a couple of good offers.

KRKT Food Drive
Friday Dec 4th Morning Show in Albany at Safeway

Coastal Farm and Ranch
1355 Goldfish Farm Rd SE, Albany. Bring in 3 cans of food or cash for 5 x 7 photo
Dec 4th in the afternoon

Applebee’s Restaurant
Corvallis Sunday, Dec. 6th
Bring in 3 cans of food to receive 10% off entire bill ALL DAY

Teal Gallery Open House
Friday, Dec. 11th at 202 NW 3rd, Corvallis
Donating 1% of Open House sales
presentation about Food Share at 5 pm

Samaritan Health Services
Brunch Sunday, Dec. 13th at CH2M Hill Alumni Center

Greenbelt Land Trust
Food Drive to mid-Dec

Corvallis Sears
Timberhill Shopping Center. Food Drive to mid-Dec

Boy Scouts in conjunction with National Honor Society.
Xmas Tree Food Drive to Dec. 24th, Philomath Blvd & 53rd

Power Auto Center
Food Drive to Dec. 31st at
705 NW Buchanan, Corvallis

Amtrak “Ride the Rails, Feed the Hungry”
Albany train station. Food Drive to Dec 31st

They Made a Difference

AmeriCorps*VISTA Volunteers with the CSC’s ‘Building Bridges’ Program came together for Make a Difference Day by helping out at CSC's Linn Benton Food Share warehouse. Half of the group spent their time on the grounds of the warehouse pulling out invasive blackberry vines while the other half spent their day inside repackaging nearly 1,000 pounds of donated cereal into family-sized portions. The food will go to people who seek emergency food at food pantries and other LBFS member agencies such as soup kitchens, child care centers and senior meal sites.

Susan James, CSC's Volunteer and Gleaning Coordinator for Linn Benton Food Share, said that the donated food wouldn’t get to the people who need it if it wasn’t for volunteers like AmeriCorps*VISTA members. We appreciate their hard work both in and outside our warehouse.”

Tifani Erpelding, Coordinator of CSC's ‘Building Bridges’ AmeriCorps*VISTA Program, worked side by side with the inside crew. “We appreciate the willingness of our VISTA members to dedicate these hours to Make a Difference Day to help the community when they are already giving a year of their time to community causes.”

Avoid Foreclosure: A Free Counseling Workshop

Find out your options when you are behind in your mortgage payments or in danger of foreclosure or have received a foreclosure notice.

Dec. 10th Lebanon 6:30 pm

Presented by Community Housing Services, a program of CSC and Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services

Please call to register: (541) 752-7220 Toll-free 800-403-0957.

Gleaners: Article explained a lot

Letter to the Editor Published in the Gazette Times October 25

Bennett Hall’s Oct. 11 article on gleaners in our area was one of those news items that, in a small space, says quite a lot - and it brought the answer to a question I’ve had for awhile, especially as times are increasingly difficult for many: How does "extra" food get to the right people?

It also explains (one of the) functions of the Community Services Consortium. We bike past the "CSC" all the time, and now I understand its vital place in our town. Thanks for a great article.

Jack Compere
Corvallis

CSC Selected to Present Workshops at National Youth Symposium

A Weatherization Crew looks at techniques for sealing windows during a training session at the CSC Weatherization Training Center in Corvallis.


The Workforce and Education Summer Youth Employment Program of Community Services Consortium (CSC) has been selected to present two workshops at the Youth Development Symposium sponsored by the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP). The symposium titled Reinvesting in Youth will take place December 7th through the 9th in Chicago, Illinois.

“This is an honor and it is recognition of our outstanding Summer Youth Program,” said Martha Lyon, Executive Director of Community Services Consortium. The Program was funded in part by stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Green Energy Grows Rural Youth Weatherization Crew, one of the workshops, will focus on how CSC and its partners put together Workforce and Education and Weatherization/Housing Rehabilitation programs to expand their weatherization work crews, combat a high unemployment rate and develop a youth training program. The second workshop, Collaboration Counts in Rural Youth Employment Programs, will show how Workforce & Education multiplied their Summer Youth Employment Program by 600% in 30 days using initiative and innovation.

“We applaud all of our 358 youths for their hard work,” said Clay Martin, Director of the Workforce and Education Program. “Now their stories will be heard in Chicago. Several crew members will be with us to speak about their experience firsthand. We are the only agency from Oregon invited to make a presentation.”

Harvest of hope

By BENNETT HALL, Corvallis Gazette-Times

After JC Whitted's home-based business fell apart, he and his wife, Rita, tried a lot of different things to make ends meet.
He took early retirement and picked up free-lance work wherever he could find it. She launched a backyard nursery operation and took a job waiting tables at a restaurant.
It wasn't enough. With two growing boys to feed, they swallowed their pride and decided to apply for food stamps. Still, something held them back.
"We just couldn't bring ourselves to do it," Whitted said. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, but we're both able-bodied and we thought there's got to be another option."
That's when they discovered the Marys River Gleaners, a self-help organization that salvages surplus food from farmers, food processors, grocery stores and restaurants for distribution to low-income residents of the Corvallis area.

Read the rest of the story at http://gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_032c6b5a-b61f-11de-bd5c-001cc4c03286.html

‘ABC and D’s of Medicare” workshop

If the vexing questions about Medicare insurance leave you scratching your head, you have a chance to learn more about the complex world of Medicare and its insurance supplements. The Benton and Linn County Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance (SHIBA) program is offering free public workshop to help answer your questions.

The two hour classes are being offered at no cost. The topics will include a discussion of the costs and covered benefits of Parts A, B and D; how and when to enroll; Medicare supplements, prescription plans and what is new for 2010. SHIBA volunteers will be available to answer your questions.

In Benton County: The workshop is held on October 20 and 27 at the Corvallis Senior Center from 6:00 to 8:00pm. The Corvallis Chintimini Senior Center is located at 2601NW Tyler Avenue.
In Linn County: The two hour classes are being offered at no cost on November 3 and 10 at the Albany Main Library from 4:00 to 6:00pm. The Albany Main Library is located at 2450 14th Avenue SE.

The first and second workshops will cover uniquely different information on each date. Seat reservations are required for handout materials. To reserve your seat, please call the RSVP office at 812-0849.Space is first-come, first-served.

Linn-Benton RSVP, a program of Community Services Consortium, is the sponsor of the local SHIBA program, the Corvallis Chintimini Senior Center and the Albany Main Library are co-sponsors of these events.

Free classes show the ropes to maximizing financial health

Time commitment, willingness are the only prerequisites

ALLYSON LONGUEIRA
The News Guard

Six hours in a classroom might not top the list of fun things to do on a Saturday, especially not two Saturdays in a row. But if those 12 total hours are spent with Karen Ramsden in her Financial Fitness class, they could be some of the most productive.Just ask Robin Rhyner, 39, of Lincoln City. She attended the class in April and said it was a real eye-opener.

(Follow the link to read the rest of the story)

http://thenewsguard.com/main.asp?SectionID=7&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=9152

Local Businesses Respond to Hard Times

Linn Benton Food Share thanks the following local businesses for holding food drives, fundraising activities or donating money during September, October and November. The food and money to buy food will be used locally for people who need it during this critical time of economic instability.

Thank you to: Corvallis Clinic; Selco Credit Union; Albany, London’s Auto, Corvallis; Heritage Mall Craft Fair in Albany on October 8th – 11th; Block 15, Corvallis event this past September; The Magic Barrel, an annual celebration of live literature that raises funds to help fight hunger in our local area on October 24th at Corvallis High School; Blackledge Furniture, Corvallis, will donate a percentage of their profits during November; Wallgreens Drugstore, Albany.

Linn Benton Food Share is part of Community Services Consortium. Linn Benton Food Share procures and distributes almost 5 million pounds of food annually through their 74 non-profit agencies, which include emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, gleaning groups, and homeless and transitional shelters. They serve low and very low-income people such as seniors on fixed incomes and working families who lack the resources to purchase food. Forty seven percent of the households served had at least one member working.

Report offers look at Head Start services

http://www.newportnewstimes.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=21546&page=72