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WEDNESDAY EDITION
Community
Voices
❘ DECEMBER 13, 2017 ❘ $1.00
SHS BOWLERS
ON A GOOD ROLL
SPORTS — B
INSIDE — B3
127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 99
T HE
I S
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
ECONOMICS OF VOLUNTEERISM
COASTAL LIVING IN JEOPARDY ?
Volunteers discuss the ins, outs, pros and
challenges of philanthropy in Siuslaw
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
There are a number of things that catch
a person’s eye when walking into the
Florence Food Share garden.
There are the 50 raised garden beds that
dot the landscape, each at 4 by 20 feet.
Those are dwarfed by the two 40-foot
wide greenhouses next to them. There’s
also the three huge rainwater tubs that
store 12,500 gallons of water for irriga-
tion.
While the beds are bare for the winter,
the spring and fall months bring a pletho-
ra of vegetables from green beans, carrots,
spinach, tomatoes and squashes. All told,
the garden normally generates 10,000
pounds of food every year.
This is what volunteerism can create.
Philanthropy, in relation to the housing
and employment crisis the region is cur-
rently facing, is an important factor in
alleviating many of those concerns.
Volunteerism, as much as any employer or
industry in the region, makes Siuslaw run.
According to the Florence Area
Community Coalition, 1,400 volunteers
donated their time in 2016 for 20 organi-
zations within the area, working a total of
109,000 hours in the community, equal to
more than $1.5 million in donated hours.
And that’s just for the 20 organizations
they tracked.
Between 2012 and 2015, 58 nonprofit
organizations in Florence filed a tax
return, according to ProPublica. That’s not
including the scores of churches, clubs
and other organizations that give up their
time to the community, nor does it include
those organizations outside Florence city
limits.
These numbers don’t include the mil-
lions of dollars that are funneled through
these organizations through grants,
endowments and individual donations on
a yearly basis.
P ART V
While the sheer volume of community
involvement is overwhelming, there are
problems when it comes to nonprofits.
Organizations rarely communicate with
each other. Finding new, diverse board
members can be a challenge. Fundraising
is always difficult, and at times, the work
these organizations do and how they oper-
ate can be misconstrued.
For the past 11 years, Bart Mealer has
been volunteering at the food share gar-
den, an instrumental voice in building it
from meager beginnings to the grand
operation it is today.
“Years ago, they told me I was the gar-
den coordinator,” Mealer said. The title
really isn’t important to him — he’s basi-
cally just a guy that keeps showing up to
grow stuff.
Mealer has had a whole host of titles
S TORY AND PHOTO
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
The new Public Works Facility pro-
vides more efficient work space.
INSIDE
PUBLIC 8A
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
General News . . . . . . . . . . .
Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
B8
A3
B6
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COAST 7A
Those wishing to receive
health coverage through
the ACA must register by
Dec. 15
City of Florence looks at
long-range plan of
current, former sites
See
See
Healthcare.gov
enrollment
ends Friday
Crews complete
move-in to new
Public Works
Facility
By Christmas, Florence Public Works will
be entirely moved in to its new Public Works
Operations Facility at 2675 Kingwood St. The
2.75-acre lot now houses a 5,942 square-foot
office building and a 7,754 square-foot main-
tenance building.
“It’s been a long process,” said Florence
Public Works Director Mike Miller. “The light
at the end of the tunnel is showing up. It’s nice
to be in a modern facility.”
Public Works office staff and crew mem-
bers all have workspace in the new office
building, with room to spare.
Amenities include a reception area, cus-
tomer service counter, training room, confer-
ence room, enclosed offices, open work-
spaces, storage and even a fully equipped
kitchen.
Miller said that the facility was planned
with the latest in energy efficient ratings in
mind, from the appliances in the kitchen to the
LED lighting throughout both buildings.
“With all the LEDs, our solar panels should
supply most of the power for this building,” he
said. “There’s no battery or anything. It meets
the demand, and whatever is excess will go
back to Central Lincoln PUD.”
Design elements include the use of pol-
ished and sealed cement floors, high ceil-
ings and exposed materials, including a
white vapor barrier covered in sustainable
in Florence. He’s the current vice presi-
dent for Siuslaw Outreach Services
(SOS), the current driver supervisor for
the Friends of Florence Van Fansand
former board member for Food Share.
He volunteers at the Florence Area
Chamber of Commerce from time to
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
Families in the Florence area received toys distributed by U.S. Marines, along with
local firefighters and members of the U.S. Coast Guard Siuslaw Station.
Toys for Tots comes to
Florence for first time
New partnership with Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue means
there will be another opportunity for kids
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
T
he first annual Florence Toys for Tots holiday
giveaway took place at Siuslaw Valley Fire
and Rescue (SVFR) Station No. 1 on Tuesday,
Dec. 12. The event was a joint effort of the Marine
Corps and SVFR.
The distribution took place from 11 a.m. until
4 p.m. and gave toys to approximately 300 fam-
ilies.
SVFR Captain Pete Warren, who feels Florence
is the perfect location to allow the Marine Corps
to extend the reach of this nationwide program to
the Oregon coast, coordinated the inaugural give-
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
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Community Voices . . . . . . . B3
THIS WEEK ’ S
away in Florence.
“The Firefighters Association got together and said
yes, we think this would be a good thing to do. So this
year we got other parties involved, like the
Soroptimists, who have been doing a toy distribution
for a long time in town, and we wanted to work
together to make sure all the kids in our community
that needed toys received them,” Warren said. “They
are doing their thing on Saturday and we are going to
be helping them, and they had some folks here today
helping us, so it has worked out great.”
The Marine Toys for Tots program collected and
See
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
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56 40
52 40
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WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
TOYS 10A
Friday, Dec. 15, is the last day to get
2018 health insurance during open enroll-
ment. Oregonians who do not get coverage
through their job or another program should
go to HealthCare.gov and choose a plan
before time runs out.
HealthCare.gov is the only place to get
help paying for coverage.
“People who need coverage and haven’t
enrolled at HealthCare.gov could be leaving
money on the table,” said Chiqui Flowers,
administrator of the Oregon Health
Insurance Marketplace. “They should go to
HealthCare.gov by Friday and see if they
qualify for financial assistance.”
In 2017, more than 70 percent of
Oregonians using HealthCare.gov qualified
for financial assistance, and they received
an average of $346 per month to help pay
for coverage.
This year, individuals making less than
about $48,000 annually or families of four
making less than about $98,000 annually
may qualify.
A recent analysis estimated that many
Oregonians who were eligible to use
HealthCare.gov and receive financial assis-
tance did not enroll last year, including
more than 78,000 men and more than
33,000 people ages 25 to 34.
“Enrollment this year has been strong so
far, but as the deadline approaches, it’s
essential to take action if you need coverage
or, if you’ve already signed up, remind your
friends and family that it’s time to enroll
and see if they can get help paying for cov-
erage,” Flowers said.
To shop for plans, visit HealthCare.gov
or call 1-800-318-2596 (toll-free) (TTY: 1-
855-889-4325). After the Dec. 15 deadline,
people will be able to get 2018 coverage
only in special circumstances, like when
they move or lose job-related coverage. The
Department of Consumer and Business
Services is Oregon’s largest business regu-
latory and consumer protection agency.
DCBS houses both the Oregon Health
Insurance Marketplace and the Division of
Financial Regulation, among other divi-
sions.
For more information, go to dcbs.ore
gon.gov.
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