6 MARCH 1, 2013
Smoke Signals
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Co-op that distributes fruit and
vegetables growing in Grand Ronde
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signal ttaff writer
Community member Kathleen
Gehrke is a local volunteer for
Arizona-based Bountiful Baskets
Food Co-op.
She organizes baskets of fruit and
vegetables that are available each
Saturday for pickup at the basket
ball court in Chxi Musam Illihi, the
Grand Ronde Tribal mixed-income
family housing development.
"Each week," according to the
Bountiful Baskets Web site, www.
bountifulbaskets.org, "different
items will be in the Bountiful Bas
ket! We base the basket contents on
what is in season, high quality, good
value and local. We generally have
six fruit items and six vegetable
items. We focus on what would be
well-received in our homes, and the
extensive surveys we've done with
participants over the past five years,
to know what families eat."
Gehrke calls the deliveries, "a
surprise every week."
The baskets cost $15 each, $25
for organic produce, plus a credit
debit card processing fee of $1.50.
The co-op says that a comparable
basket of produce would cost $50
at a grocery store.
Strictly speaking, Gehrke said,
one does not "buy" produce from
a co-op, but contributes to the co
op that in return uses the money
contributed to buy produce that is
then divvied up.
An online contribution to the co
op on Monday will trigger a basket
of produce being available for pick
up at 1 p.m. Saturday.
More volunteers come to help
Gehrke unload the bounty from the
delivery truck starting at noon each
Saturday, with purchasers coming
an hour later.
With the encouragement of Elder
and former Tribal Council member
Wink Soderberg, who is a member
of the co-op, Gehrke sang the co
op's praises to Tribal Council on
Thursday, Feb. 14.
In a discussion with her father, El
der Leon "Chip" Tom, Tribal Coun
cil member Kathleen Tom learned
that some of her father's generation
grew gardens for produce each year.
"But many went without," she said,
"unless they could find a ride to
Dallas or Mac."
Likewise, Soderberg said that
"our people out here, the Elders,
don't always feel like going to town
to shop, and now they have neigh
bors that go and pick (the produce)
up. Right here, every week, they
have their vegetables and fruit; and
(that's a benefit in) the diet of most
Elders, who are diabetic."
A few rules to consider:
All baskets must be picked up
during a 15-minute window on
Saturdays.
If a customer is unable to pick up
a basket after making a Monday
contribution, somebody else may
pick it up as long as they have the
receipt.
The produce in unclaimed bas
kets is donated to the local fire
station serving the community.
People picking up produce are ex
pected to bring a basket or other
conveyance to carry the produce
home.
Payment is by debit or credit
card only; neither cash nor EBT
cards nor other forms of public
assistance are accepted.
"I think the value is there," said
Social Services Manager Dave Ful
lerton, whose department works
with many families that could
benefit from low-cost produce. 'The
accepted payment method," he
said, "may be a barrier to families
involved in Social Services."
The co-op has been operating in
Grand Ronde since May 2012, de
livering between 20 to 40 baskets
each Saturday. The Grand Ronde
outlet is capable of providing 96
baskets each week, Gehrke said.
At the moment, Soderberg and
his wife, Kathy, are among Tribal
members who are participating.
Their son, Steven Soderberg and
his wife, Ronnee, also are partici
pating, as is Reina Nelson and her
family.
"I get the baskets every week,"
Soderberg said. "I eat the food, I
eat my own food, too (including protein-like
steak or crab salad). I'm a
diabetic and my blood (sugar) has
never been this good my whole life.
I've lost 12 pounds. It's just good."
Soderberg has been a member of
the co-op for the last month.
"It changes people's dinner tables
and lives one basket at a time,"
Gehrke added. "I have seen it
change their lives and health.
When you go home and the kids are
asking for apples instead of candy,
you are doing a good thing."
Gehrke is scheduled to attend
the Sunday, April 7, Tribal Council
meeting to give a short pitch on
the program and to answer ques
tions. Meanwhile, she encourages
interested parties to contact her at
406-450-1953 to set up an account
or to answer other questions. B
Kloglhitiinniaire IF tiw years (SOiniGuiniGJoes
FIRE continued
from front page
a fire almost two years ago.
In the interim, the Butlers have
wrangled with their lawyer, insur
ance company, a group of arbitra
tors and, today, the family has no
house, not enough money to rebuild
and a future that looks increasingly
bleak.
Farmers Insurance Group, ac
cording to the Butlers, has paid
$165,000 to the bank holding the
mortgage on the destroyed house.
The bank released $41,000 to a
contractor for gutting the place, but
the process of rebuilding "came to a
screeching halt," in Donna's words,
"when Yamhill County refused to
issue a permit to rebuild."
The insurance company, say the
Butlers, disagreed with the county
over the need for rebuilding the
house's foundation.
Even if the sides could agree
on the foundation, the more than
$100,000 left in the bank is not
nearly enough to rebuild, the But
lers say.
Farmers, Donna said, "didn't take
the word of Yamhill County about
the foundation. They brought out
their own engineer who said the
foundation could be fixed."
In addition, the Butlers said,
they have been arguing with the
insurance company over replace
ment costs for furnishings lost in
the fire.
"There are all kinds of things in
the policy that goes against you,"
said Alton.
One adjuster told Donna that "we
are Walmart and Target people, and
wTrrrrr- ttt
Photo by Michelle Alalmo
Columns that used to be on the front of Tribal Elder Alton Butler and his wife
Donna's house lay on the ground near what is left of the Sheridan home, the
basement, after a fire destroyed it two years ago.
there's no way our kids have name
brand items," Donna said, though
she brought in receipts, some going
back 20 years, for items.
She said that an insurance com
pany attorney asked her, "How can
you afford all these things when
you work for the Tribe?"
Farmers sent the family $9,000
in living expenses and $17,000 to
20,000 for lost house contents.
"We used the contents money to
live," said Donna.
"We just want to let people know
what it is like to have a fire and get
benefits from an insurance compa
ny," said Alton, from the living area
of the motor home that now sits on
the four-acre property's driveway.
The Butlers have a lease-to-own ar
rangement for the mobile home.
This mobile home is not their
first. Farmers issued them two
others - from Katrina - just after
the fire.
"The first one had electrical prob
lems," said Donna. "The second
had mold and mildew and water
problems."
The Butler's 3,200-square-foot
house with two floors and a base
ment burned in an electrical fire on
March 2, 201 1. A passing contractor
woke the family up and quickly put
a tarp over the remains to keep it
from degrading further.
'The guys who tarped it haven't
been paid yet," said Alton.
"They owe us a whole lot more
that they don't intend to pay," said
Donna.
"We weren't able to build a home
or fix our home with what Farm
ers paid. They low-balled us and
there is not enough money to build
a house. We have no house now.
We live on the property in a motor
home. This whole experience with
Farmers has been a total night
mare." In response to numerous ques
tions about the settlement, the
company said through spokesman
Mark Toohey, "This claim was
considered and reviewed by an ar
bitration panel and the arbitration
panel, after considering testimony
and hearing arguments from both
sides, unanimously concluded that
the claim was handled appropri
ately and that Farmers paid what
was owed to its customer."
Ron Fredrickson, manager of
Consumer Advocacy Unit in the Or
egon Insurance Division, said that
in situations when an insurance
company and policy holder don't
agree, each side" can appoint an
appraiser of their choice, with the
two appraisers picking an umpire
to resolve the problem.
"That was never brought up,"
said Alton.
"A lot of things about this I find
troubling," said Fredrickson, "and
would love to have one of our people
take a look at it. Insurance is com
plicated. We're here to show people
how it works and to coach them
through the process."
The Butlers are in the process of
filing a complaint with Fredrick
son's office. D