News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Canyon City couple ‘pays it
forward’ with Camp Fire relief effort
A3
Hope 4 Paws has Tree
of Hope in Prairie City
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The recent Camp Fire in
northern California brought
memories surging back for
Dean and Courtney Fox, who
survived the Canyon Creek
Complex Fire south of Can-
yon City three years ago.
Now the couple has orga-
nized a relief effort, gather-
ing new items and gift cards,
which they will hand-deliver
to those affected by the recent
fire.
They will also hold a large-
scale indoor yard sale from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec.
15, at the Grant County Fair-
grounds pavilion in John Day.
The proceeds will be used to
buy more gift cards and other
items for the displaced Para-
dise residents.
Dean said when he and
Courtney saw the devastation
of the Camp Fire on the news
they empathized with the peo-
ple affected by it.
“We thought, we need to
do something to help,” Dean
said.
The fire, which ignited
Nov. 8 and is considered the
worst in California’s histo-
ry, affected the entire town
of Paradise and other small
communities in Butte Coun-
ty, killing 85 people and de-
stroying 14,500 homes and
businesses and displacing up
to 50,000 residents.
“They helped us when it
happened here,” Dean said.
“You wouldn’t believe the
number of people from dif-
ferent states who helped us,”
Courtney added. “We know
how they feel.”
Dean said they are think-
ing of the thousands of peo-
ple now living in tents and
children who will have no
Christmas presents.
The Foxes escaped the
2015 fire with little more than
the clothes on their backs and
their vehicles. No lives were
lost in the Canyon Creek
Complex, but 43 homes were
destroyed.
The couple said they felt
numb and in shock after their
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Nonprofit assists
Grant County
cats and dogs
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Dean and Courtney Fox of Canyon City have
organized a service project to provide relief to victims
of the Camp Fire in northern California. The couple,
who survived the 2015 Canyon Creek Complex fire,
will take new donations and gift cards directly to
those needing help.
home burned, and they’re
sure that is how the Paradise
residents are feeling. Dean
said they’d now like to “pay
it forward.”
They started telling
friends they were gathering
items to ship to the survivors
of the fire. Donations began
pouring in — more than ex-
pected.
The Foxes learned that the
needs of those affected by the
fire were changing. Instead of
paying a freight company to
take used items to California,
the couple decided instead to
hand deliver gift cards and
new items and will pay their
own fuel cost.
Since they started the relief
effort, the Foxes have been
in touch with history teach-
er Dave Vixie of Paradise
Adventist Academy, which
burned, and his wife, Karen.
The Vixies were able to
escape with their car and
truck and trailer, which was
tightly loaded with their eight
large mules.
Dean said Dave and Kar-
en told them they were the
second to the last vehicles on
a road out of town, and if they
had waited 3 more minutes,
they would have been on fire.
The hair on the mules’ backs
was singed, Dean said.
The Vixies are friends of
Jim and Mary Jensen, who
lost their Pine Creek home to
a fire in January this year.
When the Vixies came
through town during Thanks-
giving week, hauling two
mules to a safe place, the Jen-
sens asked Dean if he could
spare a bale of hay for the
traveling animals.
The visitors also stayed
the night with the Foxes. All
six ate breakfast together.
Courtney said it was a heal-
ing experience to visit with
them.
“They said, ‘It’s good for
us to see that you’ve rebuilt,’”
Dean said. “It feels good to
give them hope, because they
see that we’ve started over.”
“It’s just weird how things
work out,” Courtney said.
“Who would have thought
we’d be able to help?”
Anyone wanting to donate
to the relief effort, can drop
off cash or gift cards at Pio-
neer Feed & Farm Supply,
the Foxes’ business, locat-
ed at 831 W. Highway 26 in
John Day, or call them at 541-
575-0023.
The couple said they’d
like to receive lightly used
items for the indoor yard
sale at their store by Dec. 5.
Then they and volunteers will
spend time sorting the dona-
tions. They will accept items
up until the time of the sale.
Volunteers who were in-
volved with helping at the
Canyon Creek Complex re-
lief center, which was also
located at the pavilion back
in 2015, will assist.
“They understand it, and
that’s why they want to help,”
Courtney said.
The nonprofit group, Hope
4 Paws: Grant County, is hop-
ing to make the season bright
for cats and dogs through a
Tree of Hope that has been set
up at Huffman’s Select Mar-
ket in Prairie City.
To help the dog and cat
rescue program, people can
choose a tag from the Christ-
mas tree and return the item to
the collection basket. The tree
will be up through Dec. 28.
The requests range from
cat food for kitten fostering
to cash donations for the spay
and neuter voucher program,
which offers discounts on the
procedure for Grant County
residents’ pets.
Hope 4 Paws, which is
staffed and run by volunteers,
doesn’t have a local shelter,
but with helpers they rescue,
rehabilitate and place aban-
doned dogs and offer spay and
neuter vouchers regardless of
financial need. They also trap,
neuter and return (TNR) feral
cats and offer public educa-
tion regarding proper dog and
cat care.
This year, Hope 4 Paws
volunteers trapped 277 cats
with the TNR program in
Grant County, which included
80 kittens, said Elaine Mezzo
who heads up the cat com-
mittee, working with Susan
Church and Mary Brown.
The program covered
nearly every city in Grant
County this year.
“We had a really big trap
neuter return in Riverside
Park in John Day with 100
cats,” she said. “The numbers
are staggering.”
Fourteen cats were also
recently trapped in the TNR
program on Bridge Street in
John Day.
When feral cats or kit-
Contributed photo
Visiting at the Hope for Paws fundraiser booth are, from
left, Cashel Toy, Quinn Cowie, ‘Miss Sheilah the Cat’ and
Avery Toy.
Contributed photo
tens are spayed or neutered
through Hope 4 Paws, one
ear is clipped slightly so they
know which animals have
had the procedure.
A total of 124 kittens
were cared for through a fos-
ter care program.
“We work with Bright-
Side Animal Center in Red-
mond and the Humane So-
ciety of Central Oregon in
Bend,” Mezzo said. “They
place a lot of our kittens, and
some are local adoptions.”
Last summer, kittens
were found abandoned in
the mountains and along a
hot roadway.
“We get a lot of stray or
abandoned kittens,” Mez-
zo said. “We would rather
people call us for help or ad-
vice — a lot of times people
don’t know what to do.”
She said the spay and
neuter voucher program,
which is handled through the
John Day River Veterinary
Clinic, has been temporarily
suspended until they receive
more donations.
Another Hope 4 Paws
fundraiser, sponsored by
Pioneer Feed, is coming up
this month.
During
the
“Santa
Paws” event, pet owners
can have their furry friend
photographed with San-
ta Claus from 10 a.m. to
3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec.
15, at the Grant County
Fairgrounds.
“Our budget has been
stretched this year,” Mez-
zo said. “Any donations that
people can give stay right
here in the county.”
For more information, call
Hope 4 Paws at 541-575-
0500 or, specifically for cats,
541-620-3336. The nonprof-
it’s Facebook page is Hope 4
Paws: Grant County.
Monday - Thursday
7am- 6pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
A TTENTION G RANT C OUNTY
V ETERANS :
Mendy Sharpe FNP
Are you using or interested in learning
about Choice Card Medical Care?
Apppointments
available
Katee
Hoffman
92688
See your Grant County Veteran Services
Officer today for more information.
Monday through Friday 10 am – 4 pm.
Call 541-620-8057 for an appointment
530 E. Main, Ste. 5, John Day, OR.
90630
71661
22
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for Holiday Gifts
iheck out these local spots for great shopping
during the holidays and year round!
• A Flower Shop and More
• Better Blooms & Gardens
• Dayville Mercantile & Bike Shop
• Gardner Enterprises
• DG Driscoll’s Books
• John Day Auto Parts
• JD Rents and Power Equipment
• Austin House Country Store
• Tanni Wenger Photography
• Meghan Leigh Photography
• Apricot Apiaries, Kimberly
• Environmental Measurement
• John Day True Value Hardware
• John Day Video Shoppe
• Len’s Drug
• Log Cabin Espresso
• Mosier’s Home Furnishings
• Nydam’s Ace Hardware
• Oxbow Trade Company
• Roan Outwest
• House to Home
• Etc...
• Chester’s Variety
• Radio Shack
• John Day Polaris
Watch for additional members each week!
Grant iounty ihamber of iommerce
301 W Main St., John Day, OR 97845
541.575.0547
www.gcoregonlive.com
91120
91113