Wednesday, May 13, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
7
County has Going virtual: Online auction is working for MOTH
suicide
prevention
resources
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
During these unprece-
dented times, it is natural to be
concerned about suicide risk
in our communities. Suicide is
the most preventable form of
death and something we can
all do to help prevent suicide
is to promote resources in our
community.
<Deschutes County has
certainly been impacted by
suicide death; and unfortu-
nately, so far this year we have
been seeing suicide deaths
consistent with our average
rate over the last few years,=
said Whitney Schumacher,
Deschutes County Suicide
Prevention Coordinator. <We
have not seen a correlation
between COVID-19 and sui-
cide in Deschutes County.
However, our local suicide
rate is one of the highest in
the state, which is why it is
important that we as a com-
munity continue to prioritize
suicide prevention work.=
Suicide is a complex pub-
lic health issue and no single
thing causes a person to take
their life. However, health
officials state that there are
warning signs we can all keep
a lookout for:
" Social isolation 4 phys-
ically distancing ourselves
does not mean we need to
socially disconnect, health
officials assert. Reach out to
folks in your life, whether
they are near or far.
" Despair caused by finan-
cial hardship, job loss, or
other stressful life events.
" Excessive levels of anxi-
ety, panic, or depression.
" Increasing use of alcohol
or drugs.
" Access to lethal means
4 suicides can be avoided
if people do not have an
easy way to act on suicidal
impulses during their most
vulnerable moments. Safe
storage of lethal means is key
to helping prevent suicide.
Suicide during this unprec-
edented time is not inevitable.
We9re all in this together, help
is a phone call away:
" Deschutes County Crisis
Line: 541-322-7500 x9.
" National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline:
1-800-273-8255.
" Central Oregon Suicide
P r e v e n t i o n A l l i a n c e 9s
Resource page: www.prevent
suicideco.org.
" f you are 55 or older and
feeling isolated or just want to
have a friendly conversation,
call the Senior Loneliness
Line at 503-200-1633.
" If you are 21 or younger
and want support for any
problem, big or small, text
teen2teen to 839863 or call
YouthLine at 1-877-968-8491.
The Sisters Folk
Festival9s annual My Own
Two Hands art auction and
party was an early victim
of the COVID-19 pandemic
shutdown. This major spring
cultural event is a vital fun-
draiser for the year-round
arts organization 4 and
it became clear as soon as
Governor Kate Brown issued
her <Stay At Home, Save
Lives= executive order ban-
ning gatherings that it could
not proceed as planned.
But the SFF staff wasn9t
about to abandon the event.
T h e o rg a n i z a t i o n h a d
already collected some 70
pieces of art donated by
generous local and regional
artists. That contribution
needed to be honored 4 and
the organization can9t afford
to lose the infusion of cash
the auction brings to support
its music and arts events and
education programs.
So, they did what arts
organizations do: They got
creative.
Initially, they thought
they might postpone the
event and wrap it into the
September folk festival, but
that posed logistical chal-
lenges, including months of
storage of donated art. So
they started thinking about a
virtual event.
<We saw a few (arts orga-
nizations) in the Portland
area that were moving to a
complete online auction and
having pretty good success
with that,= SFF Executive
Director Crista Munro told
The Nugget.
Facing <a year of very
little revenue,= the organiza-
tion decided to push forward
in that format. They looked
at doing an online <live=
auction, but production costs
were prohibitive.
<We just decided it wasn9t
a good use, a responsible
use, of the dollars we9re try-
ing to raise,= Munro said.
The staff decided on an
online silent auction set
to open on May 8, and run
through May 16.
<That9s when the real
work began,= Munro said.
Teresa Mills took point
on finding the right plat-
form. SFF decided to use
the auction program Greater
Giving, featuring each art
item with a photo and a
description.
<Number one, they do
their own credit card pro-
cessing, which was appeal-
ing for security purposes,=
Mills said.
The platform is <profes-
sional and intuitive,= Mills
said.
Artists have been pleased
with the way their work is
presented.
While Mills worked
on the technical end, Kate
Donovan and Steven
Remington worked with art-
ists and patrons to ensure
good representation and
easy interface with the
event. Dave Ehle and Brad
Tisdel organized promo-
tional videos and the Sisters
Folk Festival Bandwagon
took music to the streets of
Sisters in a safe and enjoy-
able way.
They set up a Facebook
live event on Saturday, fea-
turing music from Tisdel,
Beth Wood, and David
Jacobs-Strain (which can
still be viewed on Youtube).
<This has really been a
100 percent team effort,=
Munro said.
The goal was to make
things as festive as possible
under the current conditions
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of quarantine and social dis-
tancing. The response has
been positive.
<I think everyone under-
stands that it9s a different
reality right now,= Munro
said. <I think they have
enough trust in the organi-
zation that we did our due
diligence and chose the right
path forward that was best
for the organization.=
While it9s certainly not
the same as a lively gather-
ing with music and the buzz
of a live auction, the virtual
platform has its benefits.
Patrons can readily click
through to learn more about
each artist, and the online
reach has brought bids in
from all over North America.
<Sales have been robust,=
Mills said. <I really think
we9re engaging a lot of peo-
ple this way.=
The auction continues
through May 16, so there
is still time to participate
at https://sff2020.ggo.bid/
bidding/package-browse.
The September festi-
val has not been officially
canceled, though organiz-
ers clearly heard Governor
Brown9s statement last
week that, <Large gather-
ings, including live sport-
ing events with audiences,
concerts, festivals and con-
ventions, will not be able
to return until we have a
reliable treatment or pre-
vention like a vaccine. The
Oregon Health Authority
is advising that any large
gatherings at least through
September should either be
canceled or significantly
modified.=
Festival staff is looking
at what <significantly modi-
fied= might look like, recog-
nizing that the quarter-cen-
tury old tradition can9t go
forward as usual this year.
They9re not ready to
throw in the towel entirely
just yet 4 after all, they9ve
demonstrated with My Own
Two Hands that they can
come up with alternative
events that are both creative
and safe.
For information visit
www.sistersfolkfestival.org.