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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2020)
6A | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS BASKETS from page 1A If people would like to do- nate, contact Bennett at 541-991- 3455. Donations will be accepted through December. As for the Christmas Food Bas- ket Giveaway, it will operate sim- ilar to the past. People will enter Siuslaw Middle School from 27th Street, tell volunteers how many people are in their households — usually between 2 and 8 — and re- ceive a free basket of food with all the fixings for a holiday dinner. Each Community Christmas Basket contains either a turkey or chicken; stuffing, dinner rolls and canned vegetables; fresh potatoes, carrots, apples and oranges; eggs, butter and milk; applesauce and fruit cocktail; and pantry items such as crackers, peanut butter and jam. Plus, each box also contains cookies and candy canes. A majority of the items are pre-packaged and will be handled by volunteers wearing masks and gloves. For the items that will be bagged onsite, including the apples and oranges, masked and gloved volunteers will carefully ensure sanitation. “We have enough space that we can spread out the stacks of foods on the pallets,” Bennett said. “We have the ability to separate those by six feet.” Volunteers, also masked and gloved, will fill shopping carts with items from each of the sta- tions, gathering up the boxes, cans and other goods depending on the number of people in a household. Just like in a normal year, the peo- ple receiving their baskets won’t have to get out of their cars. Bennett said she is complying with every piece of advice she can to keep the food recipients and vol- unteers safe. “This may be the new norm for what we have to do in the future,” she noted. “Who knows? I want it to work, and I don’t want anybody to be sick.” The Christmas Food Basket Giveaway regularly sees nearly 100 volunteers working to organize and staff the event. “This is a big project, and the Soroptimists have never done it by ourselves,” Bennett said. Local groups including Kiwanis Club of Florence, Rotary Club of Florence, Florence Elks, Florence Masonic Lodge and Camp Flor- ence have provided volunteers and other support. “We just coordinate it,” Bennett said. “Somebody from our group contacts stores to order the food, find the location and collect some money. But it has always been the caution,” Brown said. “When we are able to address com- munity spread early on, the more likely we are to be successful in curbing that spread. While OHA offers support and resources to help county officials pre- vent further case spikes, it remains up to all community members to do their part.” Florence City Manager Erin Reynolds emphasized the need for continued vig- ilance at Monday’s meeting of the Florence City Council. “As many of you have heard, we are in a new state of COVID for Lane County. That means we are encour- aging everyone to do what you can to be creative and safe and enjoy the upcom- ing holiday of Halloween,” Reynolds said. “Do what you can outside and enjoy the holiday with your close fam- ily and your COVID circle.” Meanwhile, neighbor- ing Douglas County’s COVID-19 Response Team similarly appealed to the COVID from page 1A The University of Oregon had reported 270 cases for the first three weeks of Octo- ber when the governor’s of- fice made its announcement. As of Friday, the universi- ty had seen 421 total cases since June 1, illustrating a 63-percent increase of cases at the university since Oct. 1. Counties are placed on the watch list when there is a “sporadic case” rate of 50 or more per 100,000 in the preceding two weeks and the county has more than 5 sporadic cases in the same timeframe. Sporadic cases are those which cannot be traced to a source, indicating communi- ty spread. According to data from OHA released Oct. 20, there have been 633 COVID-re- lated fatalities in the state. OHA also reported 346 new- ly confirmed cases, bringing the state’s total to 40,136. “The watch list signifies community.” The Christmas Food Basket Giveaway was started by a Florence Soroptimist more than 30 years ago, who started keeping food and toy donations in her shop for peo- ple in need. “It started out of the back of a station wagon, and now we can’t do it out of the station wagon any- more,” Bennett said. The baskets continue to be free to the community, with a value of approximately $60 worth of food inside. “They get a pretty good box of food,” Bennett said. “Our goal is not just for dinner, but to feed them for the day, at least.” She said that was why each box has peanut butter — “that’s a good protein” — and snacks that kids can put together themselves. Even the box of cookies included in the basket is special. Donated by Little Dutch Boy Cookie Company from Draper, Utah, the cookies are festive and delicious. All the Sorop- timists have to pay is freight. The Christmas Food Basket Giveaway also requires no paper- work from recipients. “There are no requirements, and that’s a really important thing,” Ben- nett said. “There’s nothing they have to fill out to get this box. All they have to do is come to the school county’s residents this week to help curtail the spread in light of recent increased metrics. Though Douglas County has had a relatively low case rate during the pan- demic and is still far from be- ing considered for the watch list, there has been a marked increase since mid-Septem- ber — including in sporadic case counts. In the response, Douglas County Public Health Offi- cer Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer stated that almost all the county’s cases were from different sources and that he anticipates numbers to remain high and possibly in- crease through the rest of the fall season. “It appears that Dr. Red- field and Dr. Fauci are likely correct that the vaccine will not be available for wide use until the second or third quarters of 2021,” he said, referring to the directors of the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention and the National Institute of Allergy and say they need a box and tell us how big a family they’re trying to feed. … Because we don’t require any qualifications, it doesn’t reduce what they can get from food share.” People eligible for food from Florence Food Share get 12 boxes a year. “This doesn’t count as one of those boxes,” Bennett stated. That’s not to say that the Sorop- timists don’t work with food share. They get guidance on their num- bers from the organization, and donates leftover food at the end of distribution. In addition, any additional funds raised go right back into the Sorop- timist’s account for next year’s bas- ket giveaway. “We’re very careful about what we spend our money on. It is public money and we have to be careful,” Bennett said. It is also a public event. People who want to be involved can con- tact Bennett about volunteering, or just show up on the day of the event around 9 a.m. Masks will be re- quired, but the Soroptimists will be providing gloves and disinfectant wipes. People should also dress for December weather, which is often cold and rainy. Also new this year, volunteers will need to sign in and provide contact information. Bennett said and Infectious Diseases, re- spectively. The Douglas County re- sponse team pointed to an upswing of cases since Labor Day as “worrying” consider- ing the time of year — warn- ing of severe health, educa- tional and economic impacts should cases continue their upward trend. “This should be very con- cerning for everyone as we enter into the busiest social and cold/flu season of the year,” said Dannenhoffer. “We not only think we have reached a critical juncture with COVID-19 in Douglas County, we know we have. If we do not take action to stop the spread now, the vi- rus could potentially wreak havoc and residents run the risk of seeing these real-life consequences.” County health officials re- mind residents to maintain health practices that can re- duce the spread of the virus: • Make a habit of washing and sanitizing your hands. this is important if people do get sick so the Soroptimists can trace people’s contacts. It’s a reality of 2020. Bennett also acknowledged that the decision to focus on the food baskets may disappoint people who were looking forward to the toy giveaway. The Soroptimists are willing to give advice to the groups putting together toy donations. “I don’t want to discourage that, but we can’t do it this year. But we can do this,” Bennett said. “And I think this is equally as important. If I have to choose between a kid getting a toy and getting fed, he’s going to get fed.” Soroptimist International of Florence is also working to adapt to 2020. Members meet virtually through Zoom meetings and gath- er the board of directors. They also are concluding their rose sale on Friday, Oct. 23, where people can buy a dozen roses for $20. These will be delivered on Nov. 3. People can call Soroptimist Jo Hine at 541- 997-2233 to order. People can mail donations for the Christmas Food Basket Give- away to Soroptimist International of Florence, PO Box 1209, Florence OR 97439. They can also contact Bennett at 541-991-3455 or dump lady@hotmail.com. That means washing after you eat, touch new surfaces, go to the bathroom, go to the store, go to the post office or after a meeting. Remember also to try to avoid touching your face as much as possi- ble. • Stay at least six feet apart from anyone that is not from your immediate household. This means paying attention to the distance stickers at the store, the bank, at restau- rants and at businesses. • Stay home from work, school and play if you are sick. This includes not run- ning errands or going shop- ping or inviting visitors to your home. If you need help, reach out to friends, family or utilize an app or business- es that offers no contact de- liveries. • Minimize travel, espe- cially out of the state, and limit visitors to your home. • Wear a mask where rec- ommended. In addition, OHA has is- sued new guidance on the use of masks. It has deter- mined that the use of face shields are not recommend- ed with the exception of when dealing with the hear- ing impaired. The OHA fa- vors masking instead. Face coverings are now required in all private and public workplaces and are required for outdoor and indoor mar- kets, street fairs, and private and public schools and col- leges. More COVID-related re- opening information for the State of Oregon can be found at govstatus.egov.com/ reopening-oregon. M,W,F Classes 8 to noon T,Th 8 to noon Monday thru Friday 8 to noon SALE Classes begin September 8 NOW OPEN AND ACCEPTING STUDENTS All Canvas Wine & Beer Totes 25% off 2100 Spruce street at New Life Lutheran Church Contact us: Director Kristi Ryan bbcpre@yahoo.com Text 541 999 0783 1255 Bay Street ~ Florence, OR (Next to Books N Bears) Open Wednesday – Sunday 11am-5pm Licensed through the State of Oregon Follow us on Facebook @fl orenceartefacts to see new items daily. 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