Wednesday, February 11, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
THE OPEn DOOR:
Owners seek to give
back to the community
Continued from page 3
where their frame shop had
once been located, with the
major addition of The Open
Door and a large courtyard
for use in the summer months.
Now with grown children,
two of whom work in the
business, and having made
it through the recession, Dan
and Julia are entering a dif-
ferent phase of their lives.
Youngest daughter Emily,
now graduated from college,
is managing The Open Door,
providing Julia the opportu-
nity to step back a bit from the
everyday running of the busi-
ness. She has taken advantage
of the time provided to reflect
on where they have been and
where they want to go from
here with the business.
It feels like a season
where we are flipping
over, and it is an
opportune time to
give back for all that
we have received.
— Julia rickards
“It feels like a season
where we are flipping over,
and it is an opportune time
to give back for all that we
have received.” She went on
to explain, “There is a ripple
effect of gratitude we feel for
all the support the commu-
nity gives to the arts, which
has directly benefitted Dan’s
career, the support to kids
which has positively impacted
our children, and the support
to us as a family and as a
business.”
While celebrating their
25th wedding anniversary on
Maui, their first time away
together in 20 years, Dan and
Julia spent time creating a list
of wishes and plans for the
future and ways they could
possibly give back to the com-
munity. With that information
Emily created a PowerPoint
presentation for them. Out of
that process came the idea for
Dine for a Cause.
Not only will the nonprof-
its benefit from the money
received: Julia sees it as a way
to connect their patrons with
the nonprofits and raise the
awareness of available ser-
vices and their need for sup-
port. On the first Tuesday of
each month a representative
from the featured organiza-
tion will briefly explain their
program during either lunch
or dinner. The servers will be
trained to talk about the work
of the nonprofit, and informa-
tion handouts will accompany
each bill.
Tuesday, which used to
be the day the bistro was
closed, was chosen for Dine
for a Cause, and now the gal-
lery and wine bar are closed
on Sundays to give everyone
on the staff a day of quiet
rest, not a day filled with the
appointments and errands that
Tuesdays had become.
The inaugural month
of February is featuring
Heartwarmers, which began
in the early months of 2013,
after founder Mary Tomjack,
a Plainview resident, received
a fleece cut-and-tie blanket as
a gift from a friend in Georgia.
That blanket inspired nine
more blankets to be made and
donated to KIDS Center.
From those small begin-
nings two years ago,
Heartwarmers has grown into
a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corpo-
ration with 110 volunteers in
Sisters, Bend and Redmond
who meet twice a month for
an hour-and-a-half to make
blankets — and friends. The
blankets are donated to nine
non-profits that work with
abused and at-risk children
and adult patients who are
receiving treatment for cancer
at St. Charles Cancer Centers
and Bend Memorial Clinic.
The program and what
it offers keeps expanding
as volunteers come up with
more and more ways to make
use of every scrap of fleece –
nothing is wasted. Two Aspen
Lakes residents make hats,
which go with the blankets
for the cancer centers, along
with a pair of socks and body
lotion. Fleece scarves make
use of long remnants left after
cutting the blankets.
Soft fleece blocks filled
with small scraps go to infants
and toddlers. Dog and cat
toys are created from braided
leftover material. And small
hearts are cut out and pack-
aged to be used as promo-
tional pieces for telling people
about Heartwarmers.
A mother-and-son team
in Redmond heard about the
project over a year ago and
began making teddy bears to
go with the blankets for chil-
dren, covering all the costs
themselves.
In the first two years, 1,555
blankets have been donated,
and over the last year 400
bears have found new homes.
The main expense involved is
for the purchase of the fleece.
Everything else is donated
and volunteered.
On Tuesday, February 3,
The Open Door was filled
with Heartwarmers volun-
teers who had gathered for
lunch to kick off their month
of being featured. Repeatedly
the women who create these
wonderful gifts of warmth
and comfort expressed how
much fun they have, the
friendships they enjoy, and
how meaningful it is for them
to be involved in making life
better for someone else.
“Heartwarmers satisfies
my desire to do something of
service with the added bless-
ings of friendship and meet-
ing a community need,” said
Lynnette Wilson, a Sisters
resident who moved here
from Alaska. “We can’t stop.
I wouldn’t want to stop.”
The Sisters group meets the
19
first and third Tuesday of the
month from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in
the council chambers at City
Hall. No sewing is required
to make the blankets, just a
pair of sharp scissors and a
willing heart. For more infor-
mation contact Tomjack at
503-880-5832 or email hwb.
heartwarmers@gmail.com.
heartwarmers
satisfies my desire to do
something of service with
the added blessings of
friendship and meeting a
community need.
— Lynnette Wilson
In March the Sisters Folk
Festival will be the featured
nonprofit, and in coming
months the Sisters Trails
Alliance, A Home to Share,
and Fostering Hope will
receive donations.
Nonprofits interested
in being a part of Dine for
a Cause can contact Julia
Rickards at jarickards@
gmail.com.
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