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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1983)
. ' M Portland Observer, November 16, 1983 Page 3 METROPOLITAN eyes donated (Photo: Richard J Brown) Bo and Kathy Urban paddle the only 60C atraat burger In to w n burgers bless bus mall Grassrool News, N . W — When was the last time you’ve had a burger for fifty cents? W ell, if it has not been since the 1940s you just haven't heard o f Portland’s only 50«-burger, the U r ban Burger. The Urban Burger is the creation o f downtown street vendors Bo and Kathy Urban. The Urbans started vending downtown with their " H o t Nuts” cart but the novelty o f hot nuts cooled down with the economy and the Urbans stirred their creative juices develop ing the Urban Burger. Kathy Urban explained, " W e wanted to bring something a ffo rd able to Portland. I f you are at the bottom o f the barrel or from the West Hills you can afford an Urban Burger.” She called this aspect of their burger “ exciting.” “ You can see street people turn in the bottles that they find downtown just to buy an Urban B urger." Since their business transform a tion to 50«-burgers the Urbans said other street vendors have become more cautious with them. "W hen we had the Hot Nuts we were every body’s friends. They were aware that we were no competition. Since the Urban Burger they have become a bit more hesitant.” They blame the depressed economy for the attitude o f (heir vending neighbors.” Watching the downtown streets for the last five years is like looking at a ghost town. A ll the vendors say that business is way o ff. I also see greed among some vendors. As opposed to com ing up with creative ideas everyone is copying the other person Again, I say that greed is behind it. They see someone who they think is making money and they want to get right on it.” Due to expensive overhead created by inventory, high quality meat and their brightly colored cart, the Urban Burger is not making as much money as to be expected from a 50C-burger. " W e need volume. W e do not want to raise our prices. I f we do we’ll just close it d o w n ." Urban said she will "hang out” until December to see if the econ omy will turn their way. " I f we can’t get the volume this will be our last shot in Portland. W e’ve been here for eight years and we wanted to energize the City. A whopper it's not but it’s a baby burger. I t ’s the best kind o f ground beef between two enriched buns— an affordable feast for fifty cents.” The Urban Burger’s cart is lo cated downtown on the Bus M all on the corner o f S .W . Fifth and Wash ington. The Oregon Lions Eye Bank, the statewide center for donor eye tis sue. recently received its two-thou- sandth pair o f donor eyes, accord ing to Executive Director Kristi Voth. This milestone is significant, Ms. Voth said, because “ it has shown there is a decided interest and con cern by Oregonians to provide sight to the blind through corneal trans plantation " Tw o thousand pairs o f donor eyes would not have been realized w ith out the help o f Oregonians and cooperative efforts o f the state's 240 Lions Clubs, who have distributed over a million donor cards, and par ticipating Oregon funeral homes, which provide the m ajority o f donor eye tissue as a community service, Ms. Voth said. Since January 1975, the Lions Eye Bank, based at Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center in Portland, has served as a statewide receiving, processing, research, and distribution center for donor eye tis sue. The Eye Bank coordinates donor eye flow with surgeons throughout Oregon and SW W ash ington who use the tissues for cor neal and scleral transplants on visu ally impaired and blind patients. The cornea is the transparent cover ing in the front o f the eye. The sclera is the white elastic coating that surrounds the eye which is used in eye reconstructive or plastic sur gery One o f the 1,300 Oregonians who have received the gift o f sight through the Lions Eye Bank is Keith Johnson of Portland, who received tissue from the two-thousandth pair of donor eyes for an operation in which surgeons replaced a mal formed and scarred cornea in John son’s right eye with a new cornea. 27-year-old Johnson has been le gally blind since 1975, when the pro gress o f an eye disease called kerato- conus thickened both corneas to the extent that his best vision was ‘ ‘count fingers at I fo o t.” He says sence o f (wo witnesses, and carry this card in his or her wallet at all The Oregon Lions Eye Bank, based at Good Sam aritan Hospi tal ft M edical Canter in Portland, recently received Its tw o -th o u sandth pair of donor ayes. Keith Johnson of Portland, age 27. enjoye reading now that his v i sion has bean restored from "count fingers at 1 fo o t" to 20/26 his recent transplant o f donated cor neal tissue made an immediate d if ference in his life. Now an eager student of computer electronics, he advises anyone considering filling out a donor card, “ D o n 't hesitate. The gift o f eyes that are no longer of any value to their owner can open a whole universe to someone else." M r. Johnson’s ophthalmologist slates that vision is now 20/25 in the right eye and that Keith has been placed on the waiting list for a cornea transplant in his other eye. The only source o f tissue is the donation o f recently-deceased per sons Any person 18 years or older may sign a donor card in the pre- times. T o provide more donor eyes, ovèr 250,000 Oregonians have indicated a " D " on their driver’s license to sig nify (hey are a potential donor. This is in addition to their donor card. Pre arrangements for eye donation can also be made through any funer al home. because the Eye Bank, under stands the important concerns o f the fam ily in eye donations after death, it always contacts the next-of-kin for permission even though a donor card may have been signed and w it nessed. Removal o f donor eyes is per formed free o f charge by a statewide network o f certified funeral direct ors and eye bank technicians. Donor eyes must be obtained within 6 hours after death, and are donated to recipients at no charge. Trans plantation occurs within 24-48 hours. Throughout Oregon, branch banks in 72 cities have been estab lished as collection centers. It is pos sible for Portland residents to help turn darkness into light, blindness into sight, by pledging their eyes. T o obtain a donor card in your area, contact the Lions Eye Bank at 229- 7523 or your local Lions Club. 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