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