SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2021 | 7A
Oregon approved to issue $550+ million in food assistance to 572,000 children
SALEM—The State of Or-
egon received approval from
the federal government to
issue Pandemic EBT (P-EBT)
for the 2020-21 school year. 572,000 children in Oregon.
This will provide more than
P-EBT provides food ben-
$550 million in food as- efits to families whose chil-
sistance for approximately dren do not have access to
the free or reduced-price
meals usually provided at
school. Oregon was approved
to provide retroactive food
benefits to eligible students
for the 2020-21 school year.
The P-EBT benefits are ex-
pected to be issued beginning
in July.
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“P-EBT benefits will sig-
nificantly support the food
security, health and well-be-
ADRCofOregon.org
ing of children and families
across Oregon,” said Dan
Haun, director of the Ore-
gon Department of Human
Services (ODHS), Self-Suffi-
ciency Programs. “Still, many
Oregonians are struggling
meeting their basic needs.
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“When I became editor,
my first — and best — deci-
sion was to promote her to
features editor, where she has
done an exceptional job the
past five years,” said Hickson.
Besides making her mark
at the paper, Meyer has since
affirmed her place in the
community, joining the Ki-
wanis Club of Florence in
2017, having been named
a Paul Harris Fellow of the
Rotary Club of Florence and
being honored by U.S. Coast
Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 52
with a certificate of appreci-
ation for her story about the
City of Florence’s quest to
become a Coast Guard City.
“If you love what you do
and your community, you
get involved more and more,”
she said.
In her transition to editor,
Meyer looks forward to con-
tinuing to nurture the deep
relationships in the commu-
nity she’s already cultivated.
Nonprofits like RAIN (Re-
gional Accelerator and Inno-
vation Network) and local
groups like CROW (Chil-
We encourage them to con-
tact our partners at 211 and
the Oregon Food Bank.”
“All children deserve ac-
cess to adequate nutrition
to fuel their learning. The
Oregon Department of Edu-
cation (ODE) is happy to be
partnering with ODHS and
local school districts to meet
the nutrition needs of Ore-
gon’s children and families
who were most impacted by
the pandemic,” said Cindy
Hunt, Chief of Staff at ODE.
ODHS and ODE share re-
sponsibility in ensuring that
children receive P-EBT food
benefits. ODE collaborates
with school districts to deter-
mine eligibility and ODHS
issues the benefits on Elec-
tronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
cards.
Households do not need
to apply for P-EBT. Benefits
will be automatically issued
for students who normally
have access to free and re-
duced-price meals and are
enrolled at a school in Ore-
gon.
If your children are not
currently enrolled in free or
reduced meals you can ap-
ply through your school or
online at www.oregon.gov/
ode/. Qualifying for free or
reduced meals for the 2020-
21 school year before June 30,
2021 will ensure you receive
P-EBT when the benefits are
issued. P-EBT benefit eligi-
bility and amounts will vary.
Visit pebt.oregon.gov for
more information.
Each student will receive
their own P-EBT card.
Students who are already
receiving Supplemental Nu-
trition Assistance Program
(SNAP) benefits will receive
the P-EBT benefits on the
EBT card associated with
their household’s SNAP case.
P-EBT does not replace
any child nutrition program
already offered, and fami-
lies are encouraged to con-
tinue participating in grab-
n-go-meals or emergency
food programs at their local
schools and community lo-
cations.
P-EBT is separate from
SNAP benefits including
emergency allotments that
are also being issued due to
the impact of COVID-19.
P-EBT benefits are not con-
sidered in a public charge
test.
dren’s Repertory of Oregon
Workshops) and the Last
Resort Players have been
meaningful elements of her
reporting since the begin-
ning, she said. CROW was
her very first story as a full-
time reporter.
Though proud of her ac-
complishments so far, Meyer
pointed out that Hickson’s
editorial and managerial
guidance has been key to un-
covering her own potential
as a journalist.
“Ned is a friend and a
mentor — like the fun uncle
figure in my life,” she said.
“Just a strong positive role
model.”
Meyer highlighted Hick-
son’s approach of mediating
conflict amid the frequently
occurring tempests of news
coverage as a major point of
admiration.
“If you measure your tone
and your phrasing, people
are more likely to at least
read what you write, even if
they do disagree,” she said.
“And it’s more open, then, for
somebody else to respond.
That’s one of Ned’s strengths
— how he has encouraged
that community communi-
cation.”
Meyer hopes to continue
Hickson’s approach in this
regard.
“I’m also a mediator, but
please never yell at me,” she
said with. “I want people to
get along, but I also want
things to be aired out and
expressed and I think it’s im-
portant that people have a
chance to do that. So, I really
plan to follow in his footsteps
in a very strong way.”
Over the past several years,
Meyer is also proud of the di-
versity of coverage the paper
has committed itself to.
“I stand with our editorial
series,” she said. “We’ve cov-
ered everything from gun
laws, to LGBTQ issues to
health care to the pandemic.
… We’ve built a lot of trust in
the community, which also
means we’ve covered some
stuff that’s really hard.”
The coverage of a recent
death in the community, she
pointed out, was able to be
told in a deep, yet delicate
manner due to the paper’s
relationship with the com-
munity.
“The people who were
around it allowed me, as the
reporter at the time, to meet
with people who were part
of the situation,” she said.
“And that might not have
happened a year ago. … And
I don’t want to betray that
trust — I want to keep build-
ing on that.”
While aiming to retain
all the elements which have
made the Siuslaw News suc-
cessful, Meyer also sees her
new position as a way to add
fresh perspective.
“I very much acknowledge
that I’m young,” she said. “It’s
also important to me that di-
verse voices are included in a
newspaper. Our community
is diverse to a certain extent.
We’re still in rural Oregon,
but it’s important that the
people who live here and
who are a part of community
feel like they’re represented
in the newspaper.”
Part of her approach will
be to build bridges, she said,
as she presented her right
forearm, where there is a tat-
tooed silhouette of the Siu-
slaw River Bridge.
“As a newspaper, we want
to represent our community
and we want to help people
know about our community,”
she said. “And me person-
ally, if I’m describing myself
outside of my job, I describe
myself as a storyteller and a
community builder.”
Ultimately, Meyer hopes
to see her role have an up-
lifting effect on the place she
has grown to call home while
keeping a firm foothold on
community engagement.
“There are a lot of things
that are going to continue
in the way that people are
familiar with,” she said. “I
want to listen to what the
community needs from us.
And that’s going to continue
for sure.”
Meyer pointed to more
than 130 years of the Siuslaw
News serving the area and
sees herself as adding to an-
other chapter in a long, his-
torical legacy of interpreting
cultural dynamics and shift-
ing values.
“Our paper has been here
the whole time writing about
how it has all affected our
community,” she said. “That’s
going to continue, no matter
who’s editor.”
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