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.
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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.