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Polk County News 6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 9, 2016 Crash: Long road to recovery Food: Jaffer feeds those in need through food bank Continued from Page 1A Jaffer spent at least 12 hours a week at the food bank during its open hours. “Then there was a lot of other work that had to go on in keeping up with things,” she said. “At that point, we didn’t have a truck that brought our food, so I’d have to use our truck and Mo (Pat’s husband) helped, and I had a couple other people.” Together, they’d gather up trucks and pick up the food for the pantry each week. “We’d load our truck to the gills. Sometimes, my truck would be just inches off the ground,” Jaffer said. “We’d have to load it and un- load it. I did a lot of that, too. “I think over the time, the best thing that happened is the truck that brings out the food from the Food Share.” The need has not de- creased since the food bank’s beginning, Jaffer said, though the faces have changed. “During the ’90s and into the 2000s, when migrants were here, we saw probably 66 percent Hispanic and about 33 percent Anglo,” Jaffer said. “Over the last few years, with the reces- sion and with the migrants not being here, it’s flipped. And of course, during the last recession, there’s a lot of people coming in who haven’t had to ask for help before.” While asking for help can be hard for people, Jaffer said she and the other vol- unteers at the food bank try to make them feel comfort- able. More than anything, Jaf- fer is just happy to feed people. “You know you’re helping people who might not get something to eat other- wise,” she said. “You enjoy meeting most of the people. You form relationships with them.” The community has al- ways stepped up to con- tribute, Jaffer said. From schoolrooms to clubs, Scouts to mail carri- ers, food drives and dona- tions help keep the food bank running and the com- munity eating. “The college (Western Oregon) has been very sup- portive,” she said. “We’d re- ally be in a mess if we didn’t have the college.” The food available at the pantry has changed. Gone is the “government cheese.” “I think people have fi- nally forgotten that cheese,” Jaffer said. “For years I was asked whether we had the cheese after it had stopped coming.” Ella Curran has increased the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables — often from the gardens of resi- dents and local family farms. If donations get heavy on a particular type of produce — zucchini or pears, for example — the food bank will put it in a box outside for anybody who will use it, Jaffer said. “I don’t think we’ve ever actually turned down any- thing like that,” she said. “There are still people who may have money to buy other things but can’t buy fresh vegetables and fruits.” The shelves of Ella Cur- ran — and of food banks around the state — get a lit- tle thin during September and October, Jaffer said. “People seem to forget that people are hungry all year-round,” she said. “It picks up again in November and December. I’ve tried to encourage people to have food drives in September or October rather than in Feb- ruary when everybody’s doing it.” Jaffer’s service to her community started long be- fore the Ella Curran Food Bank. She helped build a low- income housing apartment complex in Independence and continues to manage that. She worked with Habi- tat for Humanity, is active in the Lions Club and in her social concerns group at her church. “We try to get people to understand the issues that we need to address just as citizens of the world,” Jaffer said. “That’s kind of hard to do. Most people just don’t want to think about it.” Jaffer has been active in the Polk County Democrats, on the Polk County Planning Commission and was a Monmouth city councilor for eight years. “I’ve always been in- volved,” she said. “I’ve al- ways felt that we have a re- sponsibility to others, and to our community, to our state, to our nation, to our world.” Continued from Page 1A Carey’s foot was trapped and the driver’s side door would not open, Berry said. “With the fire growing the whole time, we just went straight out the window at that point,” he said. Carey is grateful that Lar- son and Berry happened to be in the right place at the right time. “I talked with Eric Larson on Saturday, and he was sort of recounting the decision points that he had gone through throughout the day to get to that place at that time,” Carey said. “He had to get gas: if he had to wait in line or if he hadn’t had to wait in line. The breakfast: how long do you take over that last cup of coffee? Any num- ber of decisions” could have ended things differently. He said that, in his view, the people at the sheriff’s of- fice have the toughest job, regardless of which county they work in. “They do untold good all the time,” Carey said. “This is an act of heroism that is repeated — maybe not on the same scale, but on a sim- ilar scale. Any chance we have to give a shout out to public servants and law en- forcement is a good thing.” Berry, who has worked as a volunteer firefighter and as a reserve deputy, said it’s the training that gets him through difficult situations. “ Yo u h a v e t o w o r k through those things men- tally before you can do them physically,” he said. Firefighters responded to the car fire and the trees around it, Berry said. “There was a fair amount of magnesium in there,” he said. “Magnesium burns very readily and is very diffi- cult to put out. (Firefighters) had to pull (the car) up out of the ditch before they could completely put it out. It burnt for some time.” Carey was not speeding at the time of the accident, which is still under investi- gation, Berry said. “It’s not what you expect when you wake up most mornings,” he said. Carey was taken to Salem Hospital and released on Saturday. He said he still has a long road ahead with re- covery, including surgeries for his wrist and ankle. He hasn’t seen the video from Larson’s dash cam, but friends have described the images to him. “It’s a little disturbing that it went to flames so quickly,” Carey said. “On the other hand, that could have been a real anomaly. The fact that I got through it with relatively little injury is pretty impressive to the BMW design.” JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer Firefighters check to see if the fire is completely out at Forest River on Thursday. This gemstone was believed to protect sailors, as well as to guarantee a safe voyage. The serene color is said to cool the temper, allowing the wearer to remain calm and levelheaded. this month 503-623-3117 837 Main St. • Dallas Mon-Fri 9-5:30 Sat 9-1 Fire: Sprinklers save building Continued from Page 1A Firefighters used the de- partment’s ladder truck to access the roof, where they inspected the burnt section to make sure the fire was completely extinguished. Within an hour of the call coming in, the crew had turned its attention to mop up duties. “We are doing anything we can to prevent any more damage than what had al- ready happened,” Hertel said. Hertel added that had the f i re n o t b e e n s t o p p e d promptly, it could have been devastating for the compa- ny — and for the Dallas economy — as Forest River is a top employer in the area. “We are glad that they had a sprinkler system that pre- vented the potential of put- ting them out of business,” Hertel said. Forest River canceled shifts the remainder of Thursday and Friday, but crews were back at work on Monday. N W Na t u r a l , Pa c i f i c Power, and Polk No. 1 assist- ed Dallas Fire and EMS on the scene. The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office con- ducted the investigation after the fire. The Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center presents the winners of The 51st Annual Community Awards Banquet Business of the Year: Roth’s Fresh Markets Retail Services: Roth’s Fresh Markets Non-Profit or Organization: Partnerships in Community Living Food & Beverage Services: Arena Sports Bar & Grill Personal Services Provider: Ash Creek Animal Clinic Professional Services Provider: Oregon State Credit Union First Citizen: Pat Jaffer Distinguished Service: Russ Cooper Junior Citizen: Anton Alvarez Educator of the Year: Dr. Rob Winningham Education Support Staff Employee of the Year: Ryan O’Malley Without the great support from our business sponsors, this event wouldn’t happen—so, Thank You! Premier Sponsors: Major Sponsors: Ambassador Sponsors: Supporter Sponsors: The Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce would also like to thank all the volunteers who donated countless hours of their time, energy and focus in order to help celebrate and acknowledge many of the businesses, organizations, and individuals who make our community great.
