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. Box 21114,
Keizer, OR 97307-11114
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