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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2009)
volunteerism august 2009 Vernonia Lions Club Continues To Help Community The Vernonia Lions is just one of those groups you can always count on. And the fact is, there just aren’t that many of those groups still around-- at least, not groups that are as active and hard-working as the Lions. Vernonia Lions President Terry Schaumburg recently compiled a list of financial donations that the club has made to Vernonia and surrounding communities during the last fiscal year. The list totaled over $11,000! And it’s a long list, too, with over twenty different recipients-- in other words, the Lions don’t just put all their money in one place. It gets spread all around the community where it can have a positive impact in a variety of places, in many different ways. The list of Lions donations last year included a couple of $500 donations to the Vernonia Cares Food Bank; $700 to the Gales Creek Camp (which didn’t include their annual volunteer clean-up day where the Lions go out to the camp and spruce things up with a spring cleaning); and $2,000 to the Vernonia Police Department for a rescue Zodiac. They also gave $4,000 in scholarships to Vernonia high school students this past year (up from $3,000 the year before-- “We saw a greater need,” said Schaumburg). Those are the big ones. Then there’s things like $100 to Scout Pack 201 to help buy flags for marching in parades; $200 to purchase a recumbent bike for local resident Donnie Coghill, who has cerebral palsy; $120 for fertilizer for the Vernonia Cemetery; and $100 for the VHS Equestrian Club. They also regularly help local residents in need with assistance to purchase glasses and hearing aids. Somewhat smaller donations, but donations that make a difference in people’s lives and have a real impact for our friends and neighbors. There is also the other work and assistance that they do for people and groups in the community, like putting on the BBQ dinner for Vernonia Night Out, and showing up at the last minute to BBQ at a recent open house at the Vernonia Fire Station. Then there is the annual Christmas baskets they give to local senior citizens, which, when delivered, include an inspection of the homeowners’ smoke detectors. The list goes on and on. So you might ask yourself-- where does all that money come from that the Vernonia Lions are always donating? Well, mostly it comes from the community. The Lions Club works and holds fundraisers constantly. These include the annual BBQ sandwiches they sell during Jamboree (look for their new Pulled Pork Sandwich this year, and look for them at the Saturday night concert), their Christmas Flower Sale and their Chocolate Auction at Valentines Day. And there’s also the monthly Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament they hold at the Buckhorn Restaurant. These folks are the James Brown of Vernonia-- the hardest working men, and women, in Volunteerism! And all that work goes to raise money, just so they can turn around and put it to work back in the community. With around thirty members, the Vernonia Lions are always looking for new members to help share in the fun and the work of making a real tangible difference in the community. One nice thing about being a member of the Vernonia Lions-- if you’re an active member who helps with the volunteer work, there are no dues to pay. The club honors that active commitment and pays the dues of their working members. If you are interested in finding out more about joining the Vernonia Lions or about other work they are doing in our communities, you can contact club President Terry Schaumburg at 503-747-9048. 15 “Walk Across Oregon to Stop Child Abuse” To Visit Vernonia The second annual “Walk Across Oregon to Stop Child Abuse” will walk on the Banks-Vernonia Linear Trail on August 24, 2009. Starting from the Beavercreek Trail Head at 9:00 AM, Virgina Jones and Friends, along with anyone else wishing to join her, will walk into Vernonia and around Vernonia Lake. The group will then stop at The Black Bear for lunch at 12:00 before spending the afternoon at Hawkins Park, enjoying the swimming hole and meeting with local residents. “We’re not trying to make a statement as much as promote a new approach to dealing with abuse and supporting survivors,” says Jones. “We are trying to bring in the community to talk about the issue.” “We hope to be joined by supporters from the Amani Center (Columbia County Child Abuse Assessment Center) and the Columbia County Women’s Resource Center,” continues Jones, herself a survivor of sexual abuse. “Abuse happens more easily when we are silent. It is important to speak out about the issue to help survivors come forward and nurture community support for healing. Rural areas often have fewer resources for supporting survivors of abuse, domestic violence and rape trauma.” Jones is part of Compassionate Gathering, a group in Portland, Oregon, seeking to implement community-based Restorative Justice to heal the wounds of abuse and emotional trauma in individuals and communities. “Our current legal system is based on finding the perpetrator of a crime and punishing them, which is certainly a good idea, but leaves the root issues unhealed,” explained Jones about her philosophy. “Restorative Justice sees the whole community as wounded by a crime and seeks to involve the whole community in the process.” Members and supporters of Compassionate Gathering walked from Ashland to Portland last year to stop child sex abuse. “We followed the Race for the Cure for breast cancer in Portland by one week. So, one week 40,000 people raced to stop breast cancer. The next weekend 15 people walked across Portland to stop child sex abuse. Breast cancer is certainly a worthy issue, but what if 40,000 people walked across Oregon to stop child abuse? Training Helps Vernonia Non-Profits and Others The Vernonia Cares Board of Direc- tors hosted a seminar on the basics of board service and the roles and responsibilities of non-profit board members on July 15 at the Vernonia Learning Center. Twenty-one local volunteers from Cares, Health Board, Senior Center, Grange, Lions Club, Pioneer Museum, Hands-on Art, West Oregon Electric, and the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council attended How close could we come to eliminating the abuse of children,?” asks Jones. This year’s walk begins on July 31 in Joseph and includes scheduled stops in Enterprise, Pendelton, The Dalles, Hood River, Multnomah Falls, and Portland, before arriving in Vernonia on August 24. The walk concludes with stops in Astoria, Ft. Clatsop, and then the Pacific Ocean. Each day of the trip usually includes a walk in the morning, lunch at a local restaurant or cafe, and then some kind of fun activity in the afternoon, like a visit to a museum, play time at a river or lake, or a visit to a waterfall or other local attraction. Jones takes a somewhat unusual approach to the healing process from abuse. “I have found that healing is most effective when people are having fun,” she explains. “It’s much easier to connect with people when we stop in communities and do something fun. People expect survivors of sexual abuse to be depressed. But life goes on, and I have found that you don’t have to be sad or glum. Last year, I brought my children with me on the walk, and so we just had to stop and do interesting and fun things. And we found it much easier to connect with people that way.” “We found that when we stopped and listened to the kids and adults that we met, they were much more likely to open up,” she continues. “They were more encouraged to come forward and talk about what had happened to them.” Jones initially began her work focusing on sex abuse, specifically clergy abuse, but found that often others came forward-- survivors of emotional abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, rape trauma, and child neglect and abandonment. She found that all these abuses are related and usually occur together. “We felt we couldn’t turn our back on anyone, so we offer our support to everyone,” says Jones. “We also try to connect survivors with agencies such as the Amani Center and Columbia County Women’s Resource Center. That is why we invited these groups to walk with us.” Jones invites all members of communities to join her for a walk when she and her friends pass through. “It’s a lot easier to heal when you walk with others, not alone,” she says. the four hour class led by Carol Cheney of TACS, a Portland-based non-profit consulting firm. Topics included the laws regarding non-profit service, general and management oversight, fundraising, board policies, recruit- ing and retaining volunteers, and sustaining board energy. Attendees agreed that the semi- nar reinforced existing knowledge and provid- ed new information. Thanks to funding by The Ford Family Foundation of Roseburg, Oregon, the seminar was free for attendees.