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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.
The Oregon Lions Eye Bank is a
project o f the Oregon Lions Sight A
Hearing Foundation supported by
local Lions Clubs, and is a member
o f the Oregon Donor Program.
Glad's of
Hollywood
3616 N.E. Broadway
C oatum a Jewelry
Over 300 paira of earring« in atock
(B etw een Rita a Reck & 37thl
Your choice
■H
HURRY, SALE ENDS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19!
Most items at sale prices
1
SAVE 25%
on all these Winnie
the-Pooh’ items in o
Baby Shop
PORTLAND PHONE 23B-2311
M I ORAKO et LLOYD BLVD
RARR FR
A
B
C
D
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F.
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$21 hand-smocked dress 4-6x
$20 pants set 4-6x
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$16 infant dress for holidays S. M. L
$10 Grow Sleepers 4-8
$9 sleep 'n play suit in NB-4B
$12 blanket sleeper in 1-4T
$8 99 10-m Pooh bear is soft and
washable, too!
Sporty velour 2-pc. sets:
style—a ctio n —v a lu e —you're covered!
A sensational value on luxuriously comfortable
cotton and polyester sets' Crew and v-neck
tops ribbed and open-bottom pants Choose
dazzling color blocks or solid colors Misses
Quantities are limited
In our
Sportswear Department
■
a pi
M o n . Sat. 10-6 • Sun. 12-6
Special purchase