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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2018)
A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM Dojo fundraiser for cancer patient By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER A local tae kwon do stu- dio is getting ready to break bricks and boards in the hopes of raising money for a local girl fighting cancer. Erwin Watson, owner of Eastern Oregon Family Tae Kwon Do, said his students are soliciting donations from their friends and fam- ily, in the hopes of donat- ing the proceeds to Maddy Thomas, an 11-year-old from Echo. Thomas was diagnosed with a pilocytic astrocytoma, a brain tumor, in August. She had surgery in October to remove part of the tumor, but due to the location of the growth, not all of it could be removed by surgery. She is undergo- ing chemotherapy to shrink the rest of it. Maddy’s mother Jenny Thomas said her daughter had been doing well, but had to go back to the hos- pital in Seattle earlier this week to get treatment for a blood infection. But she said her daughter has been posi- tive throughout her illness. “She is one strong cookie,” Thomas said. “She wants to be at school. She gets upset that she can’t do as much, but she always has a smile.” Watson said his students are asking their friends and CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Maddy Thomas, 11, is fighting cancer. A Stanfield tae kwon do studio is hosting a “breakathon” on Feb. 3, breaking boards and bricks and raising money to help Thomas. The event is open to the public. family to purchase boards or bricks, which the stu- dents will then get to break as part of their tae kwon do training. Bricks can be pur- chased for $10, and wooden boards for $5. The bricks and boards were donated by the manager at Home Depot. The event will take place WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018 LOCAL Saturday, Feb. 3 at the stu- dio, at 155 W. Coe Ave. in Stanfield. Watson said so far, some students have raised hun- dreds of dollars. “Money is still coming in,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of kids bring in $400.” He said the studio has about 80 students. A few weeks ago, Wat- son said, Maddy and her mom came in and met some of the students, and watched a practice. “If she’s feeling well enough, I’m hoping she’ll be there,” he said. Thomas said her daugh- ter was excited while watching the tae kwon do practice. “The first thing she said to me was, ‘When I get bet- ter, can I take a class?’” Thomas said. Another child who has battled cancer will also be in attendance, Watson said. A few years ago, Watson’s studio raised money for Marcos Madera, a McNary boy who was diagnosed with cancer. Watson found out that his mother was struggling to make ends meet as she took him to Portland for treatment, and wanted to help. He found out about Thomas through a Face- book friend, and sent her a message asking if his class could help. Thomas said her fam- ily had been overwhelmed by the support from Wat- son and other community members. “They’ve been a huge support, allowing us to spend more time helping her,” Thomas said. Flu and cold weather cause blood shortage By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER The Red Cross is facing a “critical” blood short- age as a particularly wide- spread flu season and cold weather have kept people from donating. Record-setting low temperatures and other severe weather in some parts of the country has caused the cancellation of 550 blood drives so far in January, represent- ing 16,500 donations that went uncollected, while blood drives that remained on schedule have seen large numbers of people cancel their appointment due to illness. “Blood and plate- let donations are cur- rently being distrib- uted to hospitals faster than they are coming in,” Neil Tosuntikool, donor recruitment director of the Pacific Northwest Red Cross Blood Services Region, said in a state- ment. “Donors are crit- ically needed to restock the shelves for patients in their community as well as areas where donors are unable to give due to inclement weather.” According to the Red Cross, the organization accounts for about 40 per- cent of the nation’s blood supply and needs at least 13,000 blood and platelet donations per day to keep up with demand. Blood drive locations can be found online at redcross- blood.org or by download- ing the Red Cross Blood App, where they can also earn rewards. Poten- tial donors can also call 1-800-733-2767. The next Red Cross blood drive scheduled in the Hermiston area is Good Shepherd Medical Cen- ter’s monthly blood drive on Feb. 19. For residents looking to donate sooner, the Red Cross website lists a variety of drives in the Tri-Cities before then. WORSHIP COMMUNITY Hermiston man wins $118,000 playing keno HERMISTON HERALD Ronald Williams won more than $118,000 after buying a keno ticket recently at the Crossroads Truck Stop in Umatilla. According to the Ore- gon Lottery, the Hermiston man matched the eight num- bers on his quick pick ticket to win $53,031, but also matched the extra “bulls- eye” number to increase his winnings by $40,000. “I bought the ticket, got home, took a nap and then checked the numbers with ing his already nice win my computer,” Williams by $40,000. He also won $25,000 for playing told the Oregon lot- tery. “I am no com- Special Keno. puter wizard, but I Williams said was able to figure originally he it out and checked thought he won the it about eight times. Keno 8-Spot and I wanted to make the rolling jack- pot, but didn’t know sure I saw it right.” about the Bulls-Eye Turns out, he Williams win. not only matched “I was at break- the eight numbers on his quick pick ticket to fast with a friend and the win a $53,031.80 rolling clerk said that someone bonus, but also matched the was going to get $118,000 Bulls-Eye number, increas- because of the win,” he said. “I tried to figure out how it was that much, and she told me about the Bulls-Eye. I had no clue I had won that extra money.” He said he was going to improve some property he wants to sell with the winnings. In Umatilla County, during the 2015-17 bien- nium more than $16 million in Oregon Lottery proceeds were directed to economic development, parks, edu- cation and watershed enhancement. LANDMARK BAPTIST CHURCH 125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232 Pastor David Dever Sun. Bible Classes...................10:00am Sun. Worship Service..............11:00am Sun. Evening Worship..............6:00pm Wed. Prayer & Bible Study......6:00pm www.hermistonlmbc.com Former Echo councilor Nakapalau dies HERMISTON HERALD ECHO — Lou Nakapa- lau, former Echo city coun- cilor, has died. He was 66. Stanfield Police Chief Byron Zumwalt said Friday there is nothing suspicious about the death. “We’re calling it natural causes,” he said. Nakapalau did not show up for a doctor’s appoint- ment Friday, Zumwalt said, and his department received a call to check on him at his Main Street home. The chief said he did not anticipate releasing more information. “At this point, it’s like any other unattended death,” Zumwalt said. Nakapalau recently resigned from the Echo City Council amid a contro- versy over remarks he made on social media and reve- lations about past criminal charges. He spoke at local schools about his two Army tours in Vietnam. NEW BEGINNINGS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP Worship Service 10:30 AM Sunday School 9:00 AM Pastor J.C. Barnett Children’s Church & Nursery Available 700 West Orchard Avenue P.O. Box 933 Hermiston, Oregon 541-567-8441 Grace Baptist Church 555 SW 11th, Hermiston 567-9497 First United Methodist Church Hermiston 191 E. Gladys Ave , Hermiston OR Sunday Worship 11am • 541-567-3002 Nursery available Check us out on Face Book Worship Livestream at herfumc.com Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors Rev. Dr. Jim Pierce, pastor Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church 565 W. HERMISTON AVE. Nursery provided for all services Sunday School - 9:30 AM Worship - 10:45 AM 6:00 PM Wed Prayer & Worship - 7:00 PM “Proclaiming God’s word, growing in God’s grace” DAILY MASS: Monday-Friday ...............................English 7:00 am Thursday...............Spanish 6:00 pm SATURDAY:.........English 5:00 pm ...............................Spanish 7:00 pm SUNDAY:..............English 9:00 am ..........................Bilingual 11:00 am ..............................Spanish 1:00 pm Offi ce..............................567-5812 Seventh-day Adventist Church Community Church Saturdays Sabbath School........9:30 a.m. Worship Service......11:00 a.m. English & Spanish Services 567-8241 855 W. Highland • Hermiston First Christian Church “Proclaiming the Message of Hope, Living the Gospel of Love” Sunday School 9:15am Worship Gathering 10:30 am Children’s Church 10:30 am 567-3013 775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston Echo 21 N. Bonanza Street, Echo OR Phone: (541) 376-8108 Sunday School • 9:30am Worship • 10:45am Children’s Church • 11:15am Potluck & Communion ~ First Sunday of the Month The Full Gospel Home Church 235 SW 3rd Phone 567-7678 Rev. Ed Baker - Rev. Nina Baker Sunday: Sunday School........10:00 am Worship...................11:00 am Evening Service........7:00 pm Wednesday Service..7:00 pm “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Pet. 5:7 St. Johns Episcopal Church Join Us On Our Journey With Jesus. Scripture, Tradition and Reason Family service 9am Sunday N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston t. PH: 567-6672 We are an all inclusive Church who welcomes all. 1520 W ORCHARD AVE Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am Classes for Kids @ 9:15 am SEEKING JESUS, SHARING LIFE, SERVING PEOPLE www.hermistonnazarene.org To share your worship times call 541-278-2678