COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JANUARY 4, 2017
3A
Community raises thousands for new mammography machine
BY CAITLYN MAY
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
When the hospital in Cottage Grove received its digital mam-
mography machine in 2006, it would be two years before any other
facility in Lane County would see the same upgrade in technology.
But nine years later, the company that manufactured the machine
put the hospital on notice: there would be no further service or parts
offered for their prized machine.
"We have a digital mammography machine. It was a campaign
that the foundation did. It was a huge deal in Cottage Grove to have
this machine," said Jessica Baker,foundation specialist for the Cot-
tage Grove Community Medical Center Foundation.
"Effective 2017, that machine is no longer servicable. They will
no longer to come in and do maintenance and parts will no longer
be available," she said.
In order to continue offering services that utilized the machine,
the hospital would have to purchase a new 3-D model.
The solution was anything but simple: raise $400,000. Soon.
While the digital machine was utilized for preventative screen-
ings and not necessarily late detection, the community would be left
with no option for local screenings if the machine stopped work-
ing.
"The campaign started because we realized we need to get the
next machine, which is 3D before this machine breaks. We need to
do this," Baker said.
Other factors contributed to the decision to replace the machine
rather than rely on services in Eugene; including the small town
sentiments of Cottage Grove.
“That’s the thing,” Baker said. “If there’s something you already
don’t want to do, it’s easy to make the excuse not to drive to Eugene
and then people go without those screenings.”
Baker went into overdrive, working with community leaders and
local nonprofi ts to explore potential sources of funds. A consolida-
tion of costs brought the needed total down to $377,000 and Peace-
Health shouldered the cost for a new CT scanner, leaving the Foun-
dation to focus on the mammography machine.
"We started talking to community partners and donors. It was
pretty much my two years here being spent talking to organizations,
Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, just getting the word out," Baker said.
"The auxillary, the volunteers here at the hopsital donated
$10,000," Baker said. She also noted that caregivers had the option
of donating through payroll deductions. "It was everywhere, money
was coming from everywhere. You had money coming from all dif-
ferent places."
Over $70,000 was raised locally with Baker explaining that sev-
eral $10,000 donations came in from residents and organizations
that requested their identities remain undisclosed.
Once the community had raised half of the funds, Baker looked
towards a top-off grant to fi nish the project.
“It was nerve wrecking,” said Heather Quaas-Annsa before joining
the team, the largest grant she had ever written was for $12,000.
“This was six fi gures and my fi rst major grant.”
A letter of inquiry was sent in March followed by the fi nal grant
application in May. A site visit was performed in August and ac-
cording to Baker, one question that continued to be raised was why
the residents of Cottage Grove couldn’t drive to Eugene for care.
“They kept asking why people couldn’t drive 20 minutes down
the road but that’s part of why people live in Cottage Grove,” Baker
said. “There’s a reason they live here. They don’t want to deal with
the parking and all of that. It’s important that we had this service in
our community.”
The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust awarded up to $137,000 on
November 17, clearing the way for the new machine to arrive in
February or March of this year. The old machine will be traded in
as part of the new purchase.
“It was a lot of work,” Baker said. “But not as much as I thought it
would be because people really came forward with donations. This
community is amazing.”
A digitial mammography machine was state-of-the-art
in 2006 but after it became obsolete, a mad fundraising
effort began to fund a new machine.
Ideas for a waste-free holiday clean-up
Tips from Lane County
Electronic devices have be-
come a big part of holiday gift
giving. Each new advance in
technology, however, brings
with it an ever increasing
amount of hazardous elec-
tronic waste.
Recycling and reusing
electronics saves the energy
used in mining and process-
ing of raw materials, con-
serves natural resources,
and reduces environmental
degradation, pollution and
greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency
(EPA), for every one mil-
lion cell phones we recycle,
35,000 pounds of copper, 772
pounds of silver, 75 pounds
of gold and 33 pounds of pal-
ladium can be recovered.
Donating unwanted elec-
tronics not only helps to pro-
tect the environment, it can
also provide technical job
skills and ensure access to
contemporary technological
tools for others, regardless of
income.
Locally, residents can
recycle electronics at Next-
Step Recycling in Eugene
– and residential drop-off
is free! NextStep staff and
trainees will refurbish it and
safely remove your data and
personal information before
giving it to people who other-
wise wouldn’t have access to
technology. If they can’t fi x it,
they will recycle it for you by
working with Oregon Depart-
ment of Environmental Qual-
ity approved processors.
NextStep’s Donation and
Training Center is located
near the corner of West 10th
Ave and Garfi eld Street in
Eugene. Donations are ac-
cepted Monday through Sat-
urday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. To fi nd out more about
the items NextStep accepts,
visit http://nextsteprecycling.
org/residential-recycling or
call 541-686-2366.
The EPA also provides a
list of companies that offer
electronic recycling options.
The list can be viewed at
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/
electronics-donation-and-re-
cycling.
Waste-Free
Holidays
Campaign
Lane County Master Re-
cyclers invite community
members to celebrate the
season of giving by reducing,
reusing, and recycling waste
that is typically generated
at the holidays. The Waste-
Free Holidays Campaign
highlights several fun, low-
cost and simple waste pre-
vention strategies families
can use from Thanksgiving
through New Year’s Day – or
any time of year! Visit www.
lanecounty.org/lessisbest to
view tips and resources to
help create a truly enjoyable
season. New items are add-
ed throughout the season so
check back periodically for
inspiration and announce-
ments of waste-free events
in our area.
Lane County Master Recycler
Program
Master Recyclers bridge the
gap between awareness and
action by motivating people
to reduce solid waste at home,
work and play. Lane County
Master Recycler volunteers pro-
vide more than 3,000 hours of
waste prevention education to
residents, businesses and events
each year. Visit www.lanecoun-
ty.org/masterrecyclers to learn
more.
ore
We Fetch You M yo
ur door!
…and deliver it all to
Dr. Benjamin R. Th ornton, DDS, MS
Our new Creswell Satellite Offi ce is now open and running in
full force. To bring convenience to our patients traveling from
outside of Eugene, once a month our team will be serving the
Creswell community in their town to help broaden our reach
and expand our services to surrounding neighborhoods. Give us
a call to see if this may be the better option for you!
We are in Creswell on
the fi rst Th ursday of
each month
8 am to 5 pm
Creswell Offi ce
195 Melton Rd. Creswell, OR 97426
Please Call
541- 686- 1732
Get FREE e-edition access
with your subscription!
Our e-edition gives you full online access to all of the
valuable features included in our print edition, plus bonus
weekly deals and shoppelocal.biz.
Local Events, Entertainment & Special Off ers
Local News
Weekly Coupon Savings
Restaurant & Dining Coupons
Th emed Special Sections
Local Jobs & Classifi ed Listings
Local Real Estate
Local Sports Reporting
Games, Puzzles & TV
541.942.3325
Subscribe Today
with our most fetching off er yet!
Weekly Delivery,
Only $29.00 a year
New Subscribers only
Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Cancel anytime!
Plus, Subscribe by phone by
January 11, 2017, and your
First Month is FREE!
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. 6th St. • PO Box 35 • Cottage Grove, OR 97424
www.cgsentinel.com • 541-942-3325