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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2020)
DECEMBER 18, 2020, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 KeizerCommunity KEIZERTIMES.COM Keizer-centric group donates toys to families in need City picks holiday card KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald ABOVE LEFT: The image that will adorn the city’s annual holiday card. Artist Jennifer Owens painted the piece. ABOVE RIGHT: Beth Melendy announces Owens as the winner during the tree lighting ceremony earlier this month. Keizer Community Library offering $5 bags of books Looking for a way to fi ll the hours of what will surely be one of the weirdest winters ever? The Keizer Community Library can help. For $5, library volunteers will deliver a bag of books to your car. Patrons can choose bags dedicated to specifi c genres: fi ction, non-fi ction, romance, cooking, mystery and picture book bags are all available. To place an order call 503-390-2370 between 1 and 3 p.m. Mondays or 4-6 p.m. Tuesdays. Orders can be placed via email at info @kei- zerlibrary.org. Payments can be made pri- or to pick-up via Paypal or with cash or credit during a curbside appointment. The library is still loaning books from it’s collection via curbside service. Place book requests at: tinyurl.com/KCL- holds, and then make a pick- up appointment. All sales support the all-vol- unteer Keizer Community Li- brary. crossword By LAUREN MURPHY Of the Keizertimes The season of giving is upon us, and the effects of COVID-19 can be felt across the community. From parades to toy drives, many seasonal staples have been canceled. For the past fi ve years RJ Navarro has functioned as a bridge between veteran ser- vices and the Salvation Army to help with their Toys and Joy event (formerly known as Toys for Tots), but this year he has been hard pressed to get a straight answer from the organization as they tried to fi gure out logistics and safety guidelines for the toy drive. “We weren’t hearing back from the people that we usu- ally work with, so we just decided to do it ourselves,” Navarro said, and thus the Keizer Gift Group was born. The group consists of Keizerites who want to give back to the community and are receiving toys from the same veteran services that Navarro has worked with in the past. Families can sign up to re- ceive help from the low-bar- rier drive at rjnavarro.org/ resources, they can also be referred by a teacher, or the Keizer Police Department (KPD) who will then be re- sponsible for delivering the gifts. “This is the fi rst time we’ve done it as just our own com- munity instead of working with Salem,” Navarro said of the Keizer Gift Group. They are testing the waters to see if this is something that they want to continue every year. One thing that Navarro wanted to emphasize that sets this program apart from others is their commitment to non-discrimination. No matter one’s immigration sta- tus, language, gender or race, they can come receive help from the Keizer Gift Group; there is an option to change the language on the online application to make it as easy to access as possible. Navarro said that families receiving help from other organizations, such as Toys for Joy, which is also hap- pening this year, or the Keiz- er Chamber of Commerce, are welcome to come to the Keizer Gift Group as well. “We’re really not invasive when we ask questions,” Na- varro said. They ask for names to put on the presents and addresses to deliver them too – but, if a family is uncom- fortable volunteering that information, then they can connect with a teacher to act as a case manager. “What the case managers will do is put ‘Family F’, or ‘Family G’ so that they know what family it goes to,” Na- varro said. Though the group is made up of Keizerites, they are helping anyone in need whether they be from St. Paul, Salem, Brooks or other surrounding areas. “We live in a time where there is a lot of defi ance and there is a lot of hostility and we’re looking past that and focusing on Christmas. We’re focusing on giving, and tak- ing care of our community,” Navarro said. At the time of the inter- view they had around 45 families signed up, but they are hoping for more fami- lies. The Keizer Gift Group handed gifts off to the KPD on Friday, Dec. 11. Annual MHS gradation party seeking support The committee that plans the McNary High School se- nior graduation party is mov- ing ahead for 2021. There is no date nor location set yet, but the organizers are seeing con- tributions to give the Class of 2021 a memorable experience. Erin Clarke of Celtic Cel- ebration wrote, “We don’t know where it is going to be or what we will be able to do because of COVID-19. How- ever, we are hoping to plan an evening fi lled with entertain- ment, games, prizes, food, fun activities and a gift for very student.” To support the 2021 Celtic Celebration the committee is soliciting —cash, prizes, gift cards or gift baskets. Financial donations are currently being accepted and can be mailed to: McNary Graduation Party-Celtic Cel- ebration, P.O. 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