Artists Donate Mural For Lincoln City Head Start Site

Mural Artists Rory Lehrman, right, and Evan Peterson, left

Community Services Consortium's and the Lincoln County Head Start program are the recipient's of Newport mural artists, Rory Lehrman and Evan Peterson. They painted the beautiful murals at the CSC Head Start Lincoln City and and Newport sites. The mural at Lincoln City was finished in time for the dedication ceremony of naming the Head Start building for Dean-Stephen Kauffman.

The community minded artists from Newport donated their work. They were also assisted by film-maker, Devin robinson. Community Services Consortium and CSC's Lincoln County Head Start Program are honored to be a recipient of their creativity.

CSC Honors Dean-Stephen-Kauffman in Lincoln City

Photo to Left Lincoln County Commissioner Don Lindly, Dean-Stephen Kauffman, Lincoln County Commissioner Bill Hall, CSC Lincoln County Head Start Director, Suzanne Miller, and CSC Executive Director Martha Lyon.

Photo Right, Dean Stephen and Suzanne Miller.

A CSC Head Start event to honor Dean-Stephen Kauffman couldn’t have picked a nicer day on April 8th. The sun was shining and over 80 people came to honor the Lincoln County Head Start benefactor. Because Dean-Stephen's work has been so instrumental in bringing the Head Start School in Lincoln City to a high level of parental involvement and academic achievement, the school was named in his honor.

Eleven of Dean-Stephen's family from San Francisco and from around the State came to participate in the festivities. CSC governing board members and Lincoln County Commissioners Bill Hall and Don Lindly, Lincoln City Mayor Dick Anderson, CSC Executive Director Martha Lyon, and Annie Soto, Executive Director of Head Start Lane County all spoke of the life-long philanthropic work of Dean-Stephens.

CSC Lincoln County Head Start Director Suzanne Miller was the Master of Ceremony, "This is our chance to honor and thank Dean-Stephen Kauffman, he is an exceptional humanitarian and has been an extraordinary mentor to parents and staff at Head Start." A plaque that dedicates the school building to him will hang in the school vestibule.

A Unique Way of Helping The Community

Emely Day and Mike Crickmer have a unique way of helping others. they gather and recycle cans and give the money to Linn Benton Food Share. They are not only helping people who need food in our area, but they keep the cans out of the landfill.

In addition, Mike recycles the pull-tabs to give to the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center for dialysis patients who can't afford supplies. They give credit to Gary Lebeau, who started the project before he retired. Emely and Mike have continued the work alone after losing a couple helpers, but Emely says they welcome any volunteers who are ready to help their community. They are continually seeking additional sources of empties, so this project can continue and expand.

If you would like to help this effort or contribute empties, just contact Mike and Emely at eaday@aol.com. They will arrange to pick up your empties if you're in the immediate Corvallis area. The empties should be rinsed and clean.

Albany Heart to Heart Resource Fair

Homeless Enrichment And Rehabilitation Team Thursday, May 12 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Albany Boys & Girls Club, 1215 Hill St. SE Learn about: jobs housing medical help food stamps getting identification addiction treatment and recovery insurance for children and teens services for homeless veterans Get: bike repair, a haircut, reading glasses, sunscreen, first-aid and grooming supplies, new socks, lunch, pet supplies, blood preassure checks. For Information: (541) 917-7505 Presented by City of Albany and Community Services Consortium

Helping at the Linn Benton Food Share Warehouse

Fourteen youth from the Community Transition Program at West Albany High School gave a helping hand to Linn Benton Food Share in March, both inside and out of the warehouse.

One group helped inside the warehouse while a second group spread gravel in the parking area.

AmeriCorps*VISTA

Lola Jones, AmeriCorps VISTA member serving at the Lincoln Commission for Children and Families, is organizing a Project Homeless Connect to be held on May 19, 2011 at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church at 1226 SW 13th Street Lincoln City in Lincoln City. If you would like to help with the event, a volunteer application can be found here:

Cesar Chavez Day of Service and Learning

Garfield Elementary third-graders display their work honoring Ceasar Chavez . The mural is on display at American Dream Pizza in downtown Corvallis.

HandsOn Linn-Benton received a mini grant to celebrate Cesar Chavez Day, 2011. A mural depicting the life and accomplishments of Chavez was created by Garfield elementary students with the assistance of HandsOn Linn-Benton and partners RSVP, American Dream Pizza, and Corvallis High School. The mural is on public display at American Dream’s downtown Corvallis location.

Volunteers spent time educating the students about Chavez, Corvallis High School students created two original pieces of artwork, then mentored 65 third graders to re-create their artwork onto a 30–piece pizza box mural. Students, parents, teachers and other community members celebrated the unveiling of the mural and enjoyed pizza and soda at American Dream on Cesar Chavez Day, March 31st.

The mural will remain on display at American Dream during the entire month of April, educating the community and bringing awareness to the work of Cesar Chavez. A second mural is on display at Garfield Elementary School. The high school students created note cards, using their original artwork, and are selling them for $0.50 each to raise money for art programs at their school.

“No Place to Call Home”

Save the Date for “No Place to Call Home”
May 16, 2011 7:00 p.m.
First Congregational Church
4515 SW West Hills Road, Corvallis

A program about the lives of Corvallis persons who live on our streets, in our woods and under our bridges. Many are afflicted with chronic medical problems, addiction disorders, or mental illness. Some are just ordinary folks who lost their jobs and can’t find work in this economic environment.

The program is about their struggle to survive and our community’s efforts to reach out to these homeless persons. The event is free, but the audience will be invited to contribute to help the Corvallis Homeless Shelter Coalition move more people into safe and stable housing.

We are celebrating the success of the Corvallis Homeless Shelter Coalition in establishing Partners Place, which will be opening later this summer to provide a permanent place to live for some of Corvallis ‘ most vulnerable homeless persons.

To reserve a seat for the program, call(541)752-3605

OSU Food Drive

Mike Gibson, Director of Linn Benton Food Share (left) and OSU President Ed Ray (right) team up to present awards to OSU Departments and students who competed to raise money and food for Linn Benton Food Share. A representative of the S.I.F.E. (Student In Free Enterprise) receives two awards.

Oregon State University broke all records with 540,000 pounds of food collected in 2011

Linn Benton Food Share Director, Mike Gibson presented awards to OSU Departments and Student Groups who competed to collect food and raise money. Each year during February the University community plans a wide variety of food and fund-raising activities to help the hungry. This effort is in conjunction with the Governor's State Employees Food Drive. The resources gathered by county Extension offices, Experiment Stations, Cascades Campus and Centers associated with OSU go to their local food banks. Proceeds from the OSU Corvallis campus benefit the non-profit agencies served by Linn-Benton Food Share. These agencies include local food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, day care centers, shelter homes, and gleaning groups in Linn and Benton counties. Linn Benton Food Share is a department of Community Services Consortium. Food Share has a mission that Everybody Eats.

First Annual Bite of Benton

Bite of Benton has been moved to a fall date! Stay tuned for the date announcement!

Come celebrate Benton County’s culinary delights at the 2011 Bite of Benton!

Local restaurants, wineries, breweries, and food producers will be showcased in this premiere event that will be a gourmet’s delight. In addition to exploring the multitude of booths offering “bites and tastes” of locally created delicacies, attendees will enjoy local entertainment.

Don’t miss your opportunity to savor the tantalizing flavors of the Willamette Valley and enjoy delicious foods, regional wines and beers, music, demonstrations and more. Tickets, sponsorships, and booth reservations are now available.

Join us in the fall at the Benton County Fairgrounds for the Bite of Benton and celebrate fabulous foods, wines, and brews of Benton County!

A portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to Community Services Consortium's Linn-Benton Food Share program.

2011 Barrel To Keg Relay Race

2011 Barrel To Keg Relay

Presented by Harris Bridge Vineyard and Rogue Ales

Benefiting Community Services Consortium
"Helping People. Changing Lives" and "Race Against Poverty."

Date: Saturday, July 23, 2011

Location: Philomath to Newport, Oregon.

Check-In/Start: Harris Bridge Vineyard (22937 Harris Road), Philomath, Oregon, 97370.

Finish: Rogue Brewery, Newport, Oregon.

Start Times: 7:00 am (Wave A), 7:30 am (Wave B), 8:00 am (Wave C), 8:30 am (Wave D), 9:00 am (Wave E)

Wave Assignments: Starting waves will be assigned based on estimated 10K times of team members - these times must be submitted with a team's entry. Team captains will be notified of wave assignments by July 1, 2011.

Course: 69 miles. Click here for a COURSE MAP. Maps will be available on April 2nd.

Legs/Teams: 12 legs, teams can be comprised of 2, 4 or 6 members. A Relay Leg Chart will be available soon.

Awards Ceremony: The awards ceremony will be at the Rogue Brewery in Newport at 5:00 pm.

Team Divisions: Open, High School, Masters, Women, Corporate, Running Clubs

Entry Fees: $45 per person (includes t-shirt) through April 30, 2011, $50 per person from May 1, 2011, through July 15, 2011. All teams are also responsible for providing one volunteer to assist on race day.

Entry Note: Participating teams need to be aware that this is a running (and non-walking) event, with a 12 hour time limit to complete the course.

Registration:For more information and to register

Runners who would like to be matched with a team, please contact Mark Barrett at 503-821-9577.

For more information, contact mbarretts@aol.com or dteem@communityservices.us, or call 503-821-9577.

Spring Food Drive

CSC's Linn Benton Food Share Annual Spring Food Drive in Corvallis is the week of April 4th – 9th. Girl Scouts and other youth groups will distribute bags throughout the week and collect filled bags on Saturday morning, April 9th.

Monetary donations are also greatly appreciated. Food Share can distribute up to 15 pounds of food for every tax-deductible dollar donated. If your bag was overlooked, please drop off your bag at Keller Williams Realty, 1121 NW 9th St. Corvallis.

(Photo) Young volunteers pick up food in their neighborhood for the Spring Food Drive.