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.