WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
To the
rescue
Eastern Oregon residents send aid to fi re-stricken towns
By ANNIE FOWLER
FOR THE HERMISTON HERALD
‘MY WIFE (CARYN)
AND I HAVE A BIG
HEART FOR HELPING
PEOPLE. PEOPLE
WERE PACKED IN THE
CLACKAMAS COUNTY
FAIRGROUNDS. TO SEE
IT IN PERSON WAS
ASTONISHING.’
D
avid Dunn returned Sunday, Sept.
20, from his second trip to Clacka-
mas County, where he dropped off
much-needed supplies to help those
affected by the fi res that have devastated
Western and Southern Oregon.
The Pendleton man, who spent part
of his childhood in Molalla, also has a
brother, Damion Dunn, who lives in
Mulino. His sister-in-law, Casey Buck-
master, lost her home and belongings
in the fi re that destroyed a good part of
Talent, a town of 6,500 people that is 7
miles south of Medford.
“My wife (Caryn) and I have a big
heart for helping people,” Dunn said.
“People were packed in the Clackamas
County Fairgrounds. To see it in person
was astonishing.”
Dunn, the executive director at
Redemption Life Services, took bot-
tled water, hygiene items, pet food, and
supplies for livestock on his latest trip.
The donations came from Eastern Ore-
gon people wanting to help in any way
they can. The Dunns accepted donations
at the Walmarts in Pendleton, Hermiston
and College Place, Washington.
“People from Eastern Oregon differ
from those on the west side, but when
it comes to something like this, people
want to know how they can help,” Dunn
said. “It’s nice to come together.”
Dunn not only delivers supplies, but
offers comfort to those who have lost
David Dunn, Pendleton man volunteering
to help those affected by fi res that have
devastated Western and Southern Oregon
Staff photos by Ben Lonergan
TOP: Bettina Senter, left, hands donations to Caryn Dunn during a donation drive for
Clackamas County fi re victims and fi refi ghters at the Pendleton Walmart on Friday, Sept.
18, 2020. Dunn and several others gathered donations from Hermiston, Pendleton,
and College Place, Wash., to take to fi re victims in Clackamas County. ABOVE: David
Dunn, center, makes calls to try and wrangle donations for fi re victims in the parking
lot of the Pendleton Walmart on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. Dunn made stops in Hermiston,
Pendleton and College Place, Wash., to help gather donations for fi re victims and fi re
fi ghters in Clackamas County.
nearly everything they owned.
“It’s good to talk to the volunteers
and displaced people and share the gos-
pel with them,” Dunn said. “You don’t
know me, but I love you and I’m here
to help. You don’t know how far those
words go to helping people in crisis.”
Dunn also praised Grant County
Sheriff Glenn Palmer, who helped orga-
nize a collection of items that were taken
to Bend, and then to Southern Oregon
and Clackamas County.
Dunn plans more trips to help those
in need. If you would like to donate, he
can be reached at 541-612-0506, or by
email, redemptionlifeservices@gmail.
com.
Items in greatest need are fuel gift
cards, gift cards to major retailers for
disaster victims, food for pets and live-
stock, water, toilet paper, horse bedding,
Gatorade, masks, gloves and fi rst aid
kits. Donations are tax deductible.
Dunn’s family is but a small part of
those reaching out to help fi re victims.
American Legion Post 37 in Hermis-
ton was collecting donated items at the
VFW Hall at 45 W. Cherry Ave. includ-
ing foods, produce, toiletries, bottled
water, new bedding and new clothing
to be delivered to the American Legion
Post in Estacada.
See Aid, page A10
Stepping Stones looks outside
Hermiston after city council vote
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The Stepping Stones board says
they are committed to looking for
a new location for their proposed
homeless shelter after the Herm-
iston City Council passed an ordi-
nance on Sept. 14 that banned shel-
ters within 1,000 feet of parks and
schools.
Cathy Lloyd, president of the
Stepping Stones board, said while
the ordinance technically allows
for temporary emergency shelters
like the one proposed, regulations
in the ordinance — particularly
INSIDE
the 1,000 foot rule and a require-
ment that the shelter must be co-lo-
cated with an existing use on indus-
trial property rather than having its
own property — means the board
will be looking outside city limits
for space.
“We sat and looked at the city’s
map last night and there’s not any-
thing available,” she said. “It’s
pretty disappointing.”
She said the next steps were to
look for possible sites located in
the county or a nearby city and look
into zoning rules in those areas.
The Stepping Stones board has
proposed a shelter modeled after
A3 Morrow County moves to Phase
2 as Umatilla and Morrow counties are
taken off the state’s COVID-19 watchlist
shelters in Walla Walla and else-
where that use small Conestoga
huts to shelter homeless individu-
als. The huts do not have running
water, electricity or other ameni-
ties because they are not meant to
be seen as a permanent housing
option, but they do provide more
privacy and storage than a warm-
ing station with cots lined up on a
fl oor.
The board has stated that guests
would only be allowed into the
property at night after checking in
with a volunteer, and paid security
See Stepping Stones, page A10
A6 COVID-19 is aff ecting the
Hermiston Education Foundation’s
usual fundraisers
Staff photo by Jade McDowell, File
A fenced lot between the Agape House and the Theater Sports Park was the
proposed site of the Stepping Stones project before the Hermiston City Council
approved an ordinance that bans shelters within 1,000 feet of a park or school.
A7 Rae’s Dayz Donuts & Etc. opens
in Umatilla
A8 Graciela Garcia’s family steps
up their eff orts to fi nd the missing
Hermiston woman