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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1997)
Page A5 DEC. 3, 1997 ff hr P o rtlan b (íObsrruer St. Vincent dePauI Announces Comerford Award Winner: Betty Roberts help establish newly opened Training Center Betty Roberts has been named the 1997 winner ot the Comerford Award, developed to honor a person who has made a profound contribution toward providing employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Roberts is director of the new St. V intent dcPaul Trai m ng Center, a fac i I ity that provides customized office skills training for disabled people. The Comerford Award is presented annu ally in m em ory o f B ernard “ B a rn e y ” Comerford, a long-time leader in Portland's volunteer community. More than 25 years ago, following his own retirement, Comerford founded St. Vincent dePaul Rehabilitation Services of Oregon, an organization provid ing vocational training and jobs for adults with disabilities. Typically, the award goes to people in the community. This year, St. Vincent dePaul Rehabi litation chose to honor one of its own employees for her role in the creation of its training facility. “Through Betty’s persistence, w e’ve been able to offer office skills training to people who might not otherwise get training,” said Roy Soards, executive director of St. Vincent dePaul Rehabilitation Service. "Her devo tion to her work shines through each day, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge her role in implementing programs which provide indi- Roy Soards, Executive Director, Betty Roberts, Training Center Director St. Vincent dePaul Rehabilitation Service, Inc. vidual with a variety ol disabilities an oppor tunity to find meaningful employment.” Roberts joined St Vincent’s more than five years ago with the mission of starting the training center. She built it from the ground up - designing the program, selecting the site, overseeing construction, developing curricu lum and assisting with fundraising. Portland General Electric Assists "Project Child Support” The C am paign for E qual Ju stic e , an o r g a n iz a tio n d e d ic a te d to r a is in g m oney to r l.egal A id program s s ta te w ide, has received a $ 1 5 ,0 0 0 grant from P o rtland G en eral E le c tn c for "P ro ject C hild S u p p o rt," a program d e sig n ed to help fam ilies a ffe c ted by inadequate child support en fo rcem en t. C h ild re n bear the brunt o f p o verty m ore d ire c tly than any o th e r se c to r o f so ciety , and su ffe r the m ost d e v a s ta t ing and lo n g -la stin g c o n se q u e n c e s. "P ro ject C hild S u p p o rt" w ill o ffe r a range o f se rv ic e s intended to e n su re that law s co m p e llin g parents to p ro vide adeq u ate fin an cial support for th e ir ch ild re n are actu ally e n fo rc e d , clearly one o f the m ost cost e ffe c tiv e w ays to a lle v ia te ch ild poverty. C u rre n tly , 3 7 4 ,0 0 0 c h ild re n arc- served by O re g o n ’s child support s y s tem -- less than half the ch ild re n who are e lig ib le . W ith one o f the low est levels o f program sta ffin g of any state- franked 4 5 th ), O re g o n 's sy stem c o l lects ch ild support for only 17.8% o f the fam ilies enrolled "P ro ject C hild S u p p o rt” w ill bring to g e th e r p rin cip als in stale govern- inent w ho u ltim ately share responsi b ility to r the s y s te m ’s fu n ctio n in g p arent ad v o cates w ho are d ire c tly a f fected by the system , and legal aid staff w ho u n d erstand both the te c h n i cal and hum an side o f the sy ste m ’s fu n c tio n in g and failu res, and w ho can p ro v id e the le a d e rsh ip to c reate e ffe c tive reform . S e rv ic e s w ill in c lu d e a to ll-fre e statew ide C hild Support H otline; a S elf A dvocacy H andbook w ritten for p a r en ts w ith child support p ro b lem s; and q u a rte rly cable te le v isio n d iscu ssio n p ro g ram s for p aren ts. A d d itio n a lly , l.eg al A id staff will p ro vide technical a ssista n c e and train in g to e x istin g p a r ent g ro u p s to help them d e v e lo p and re fin e th e ir se lf-ad v o cacy sk ills. T he hotline is already esta b lish e d and may be reached at 1-800-383-1222. F unding for "P roject C hild S u p p o rt” has been provided by the C o llin s F oun d a tio n , the M J. M urdock C h a rita b le I ru s t, and the P o rtla n d W o m e n ’s U n io n . P o rtla n d G e n e ra l E le c tr ic ’s c o n trib u tio n w ill help raise a $ 6 5 ,000 m atch needed to obtain sec o n d -y e a r funding from the M urdock T rust. 1997 Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan Tour Teams W ith Portland When Santa Claus comes to Portland this year, he' II have 25,(XX) lights toguide his way and the help of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland to make this holiday season more fun than a sleigh full of mischievous elves. Coca-Cola and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metropolitan Area have teamed up with Santa to spread holiday cheer during a three-day stop on the 1997 Coca-Cola Holi day Caravan Tour. Inspired by the brightly lit delivery trucks made popular in Coca-Cola's annual “Christmas Caravan" tele vision com mercial, the Holiday Caravan Tour brings to life five images of Santa Claus. One of the Coca-Cola Holiday Caravans will be in the Portland area from Dec. 1-3 featuring local entertainment, artwork created by Boys & Girls Clubs members and all kinds of holiday fun. The local Boys & Girls Clubs will partici pate in and benefit from the Coca-Cola Holi day Caravan visit. Earlier this year, local children entered a holiday drawing contest and winners were selected f rom Boys & Girls Clubs who will benefit from the sale of these posters holiday greeting cards and Christ mas wreaths decorated by local children which w ill be displayed for sale during Cara van events in the Boys & Girls Club Art Tent Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan events arc- free and open to the public In addition to Boys & Girls Art Tent showing arts and crafts from local youth, other event elements include. * Performances from talented area groups, including high school choirs and dancers of all ages, in the Santa Pack Theater. * A Mini Caravan - a motorized 15-foot replica of the semi-truck Caravan -on sit for viewing and photo opportunities. * A backdrop for holiday-themed photos at the Caravan Photo Stop * G ilts, including holiday apparel, orna ments anil Caravan replicas, for sale. A por tion of the proceeds will be donated by par ticipating licenses to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. * Coca-Cola Santa Packs for sale, with portion of proceeds going to the Portland Boys & Girls Club * Visits from Santa himself ’ "The Coca-Coca Holiday Caravan gives Boys & Girls Clubs kids a magical backdrop to showcase their talent " said Virginia Hensen, executive director. Boys ¿4 Girls Clubs of Portland "The proceeds collected at each Caravan event will support our pro grams for kids throughout the Portland Mel ropolitan area " Boys & Girls Clubs across the country are enjoying visits from the 1997Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan Tour, launched with a special send-off involving all live trucks in St. Louis recently .From St. Louis, five identical Caravans departed for stops in more than 65 cities throughout thccountry between Nov. 15 and Dec. 24. Each Coca-Cola Holiday has a 46-foot high trailer completely illuminated from the inside out along the entire surface with mul ticolored lights. A red Ken worth Tractor, outlined in glowing white lights, pulls the trailer. A portable holiday scene - complete with wooden benches, wreaths, fences, stages and decorated Christmas trees travels inside- each Caravan and is set up for all holiday events. The popular portraits of Santa Claus made famous by Coca-Cola, which arc featured on the Caravan and on Coca-Cola Santa Packs, are reproduced from original oil paintings Tips for the canning season Canning is a wonderful way to pre serve the freshness of fruits and vegetables produced during the end o f summer-like tomatoes. To get the best canning results . follow these helpful hints compiled by the home economists at Whirlpool. ■ Remember to use the right cookware— it makes a big difference. Flat-bottomed cookware provides better contact and therefore, the best cooking results. D on’t use w a r p e d , d e n te d o r r ib b e d - bottom ed pans. This can cause- uneven cooking because there is incomplete contact with the heat ing unit. The pan material (metal or glass) also affects how quickly and evenly the pan heats. ■ To protect your stove top, always use the largest surface unit. Center your canner/pan over the heating unit and make sure it does not extend riipre than one inch outside the heating unit area. Large diam e ter canners/pans, if not centered correctly, trap heat and can cause- damage to the stove top. Do not place your canner on two surface units at the same time because too much heat will build up and dam age the stove top. ■ If you plan to use your stove top for canning. W hirlpool recom mends ordering a canning kit from your dealer or authorized service company. Most water-bath or pres sure canners are big. and if you can with them at high hea, settings for long peruxls of time, you can short en the life of regular surface units. t I created by Haddon Sundblom. Sundblom w as first commissioned in 1931 by TheCoca- Cola Company to capture the image of Santa Claus for use in an advertising campaign. He drew a round, merry gentleman with rosy red cheeks, a fluffy white beard and a red outfit w ith a large black belt Over the years, the Sundblom Santa" lias become the universal image for Santa Claus associated with Coca- Cola throughout the world. Coca-Cola Santa Pack packaging features four of Sundblom s most f amous oil paintings. I.ach year a new Sundblom Santa image is added to the Santa Packs, replacing one from the previous year. This year's new addition appears on the Coca Cola Holiday Caravans. I ¡tied" ITiey Remembered Me,” it shows Santa Claus discovering a dish of cookies and an ice- cold C’oca Cola that a family has left for him under the Christmas tree.
