A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
30 YEARS:
continued from Page A1
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Volunteer Tysn Southwick, of Hermiston, separates cans and
bottles into plastic bags Tuesday morning at Agape House.
RECYCLE:
continued from Page A1
ill it up and then return it to
the BottleDrop Redemption
Center, 740 W. Hermiston
Ave., Hermiston. It’s open
daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The bags have an identi-
ication tag that earmarks
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2016
FROM PAGE A1
proceeds to be donated to
Agape House.
A nonproit organiza-
tion, Agape House serves
those in need in western
Umatilla County and Mor-
row County. It’s located at
500 Harper Road, Hermis-
ton. For more information
or to donate to its programs,
call 541-567-8774.
down the room, looking
around furtively as if wor-
ried someone might recog-
nize them.
One man declared he
hadn’t needed help in “a
very long time.” Another
man and woman searched
through a shopping cart
full of household goods
for a blanket to give the lit-
tle boy they brought with
them.
Danielle Martin-Kestler
said this was only her third
time to the Agape House in
all the time she has lived in
the area.
“We’re just a little short
on food this month,” she
said after a moment’s hes-
itation.
She said the Agape
House does a great service
for all kinds of community
members, from those who
need the help on a regular
basis to those who just had
a really bad month inan-
cially.
“For people who are
homeless, or just need
some extra help feeding
their kids, this is the place
to go,” she said.
At the reception desk,
Munoz said the best part
of her job was seeing the
emotions on peoples’ faces
at the moment when they
receive some much-need-
ed help.
“When you see the peo-
ple that need it, especially
the kids, they’re so happy
to see the food,” she said.
She said the regular
clients begin to open up
about their problems after
a while, when they start to
feel “like family.”
The Agape House (ofi-
cially Eastern Oregon Mis-
sion Inc.) opened its doors
in Hermiston on Aug. 5,
1986 when founder Kath-
leen Knudson used a small
rented house to distribute
food and clothing to the
homeless and indigent.
Later the quickly-grow-
ing nonproit purchased
a building on South 11th
Street, then moved to its
current location on Harper
Road in 2005. Its original
function as a food and cloth-
ing bank has greatly ex-
panded to provide classes,
showers, household goods,
irewood, gas money and
transitional shelter for fam-
ilies at Martha’s House.
Current director Dave
Hughes took over opera-
tions in 2002.
He said in the years
since, he has been ex-
tremely impressed with the
help the organization has
received.
About 98 percent of the
nonproit’s budget comes
from donations, and all of
the vehicles used in its op-
erations have been donated
too. Hughes said people
are constantly dropping
off donations of clothing,
furniture and other items.
Meanwhile local farms,
processing plants and gro-
cery stores help stock the
warehouse with food that
is then distributed to com-
munity members in need.
“The list goes on,”
Hughes said. “Almost any-
one involved in food in
this community has been
involved in some way.”
He said businesses
without food to donate are
quick to donate in-kind ser-
vices as well — the Agape
House raised more than
$3,000 during this year’s
Pendleton Round-Up by
charging for parking on a
lot owned by Tom Denchel
Ford Country.
Some people use the
Agape House’s services just
once before getting back
on their feet. Others are
seniors on a ixed income
who rely on the emergency
food boxes to get through
the end of every month.
“That’s part of life,”
Hughes said.
In addition to the food
boxes, which provide
enough food for about four
days, the Agape House also
distributes food to children
in the community through
the Backpack Program.
Hughes said the program,
which sends bags of food
home with 100 to 150
students each weekend,
started when a principal
told him she had students
who would wrap up their
school lunch on Friday
and take it home because
they knew they wouldn’t
be fed at home during the
weekend.
“It’s sad to think that
in this community that
grows so much food, we
have kids going hungry,”
he said.
In 2012, Eastern Oregon
Mission opened Martha’s
House, a “family transi-
tional shelter” that pro-
vides a few months’ worth
of housing to families
with children that would
otherwise ind themselves
homeless. At Martha’s
House they learn skills like
cooking and writing a cov-
er letter, and are required
to look for work and spend
time volunteering if they
don’t have a job.
The shelter can house
up to 10 families at a time.
The original time lim-
it for living at Martha’s
House was four months,
but Hughes said that dead-
line has been extended for
some families that are do-
ing their part to get into
other housing but have
been tripped up by a short-
age of available rentals in
Hermiston.
“If somebody has had
some missteps in the past,
it’s hard,” he said. “Hous-
ing is so tight in this com-
munity that the landlords
are full all the time.”
Maria Trevino, who
volunteers her time illing
food boxes for ive hours
each week, said the volun-
teers and employees enjoy
spending time together and
enjoy the feeling of serv-
ing others.
She said the nonprof-
it could always use more
volunteers like herself, and
donations of good-quality
food.
“I wish we had more
eggs,” she said. “You
know, with eggs, you can
do a lot of things.”
The Agape House is
open Tuesday through
Thursday each week from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Sunday,
from 2-5 p.m., the public is
invited to a 30th anniver-
sary open house with tours
and refreshments.
$
40,000
40,000
BINGO SPECIAL!
$
1,000
WINNER
EACH
GAME
20 PAPER-ONLY GAMES EACH DAY … THAT’S 20,000 PER DAY!
$
90/day gets you two Six-On packs for each session.
One extra Six-On pack available per session for $ 25! *
$
Early Bird Packs available for $ 10 before the main sessions begin,
get a Six-On for five games, each paying $ 100.
Super double action and super block of nine games will be for sale as well. $ 3 each game.
Each game has a chance to win up to $ 10,000! No splits on the progressive numbers.
Make a night of it! For hotel reservations, call 1-800 654-9453.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
OCTOBER 8 & 9
• Doors open at 9AM
• Early Bird sessions begin at noon
• Main sessions begin at 12:30PM
• FREE GIFT at event with buy-in
C A SI N O • HOT E L • G O LF • CI NE P LEX • RV • MU SE UM • DI N I NG • T R AV EL P LAZ A
800.654.9453 • Pendleton, OR • I-84, Exit 216 • wildhorseresort.com
*Players may not have more than three Six-On Packs per session. Play Saturday
or Sunday, for $ 90 per day, at door. For full details go to wildhorseresort.com or
contact us at bingo@wildhorseresort.com. Space is limited. Paper only event.
Owned and operated by CTUIR. 650.7455.BA.8.16