Ribbons and Bows

Hurry, scurry!  Hustle, bustle! The season of cheer crashes in with the bell ringers ringing, the carolers caroling, reindeer flying, wrapping paper wrinkling, cookies baking and oh, my goodness, I forgot Aunt Sally!! Not to worry!!  We have just the answer for you!

Thanks to Sue Piazza, there’s an event happening at Gresham Ford, Final Touches Holiday Event.  Let us do the gift wrapping for you.  And for those last minute, “oh my goodness I forgot moments”, there’ll be Christmas Cut-out Cookies ready to decorate, Floral Arrangements, Gifts and other Goodies!  Also, there will be some wonderful Holiday Stockings for him, her and the kids donated by local businesses.

And don’t forget to purchase your ticket for a chance to win a 2014 Vespa S50!  Who wouldn’t want that?  Go online: http://www.gbefkids.org/events-2014/ or stop by the service cashier at Gresham Ford.

The drawing will be held at 7:25pm the night of the event and you NEED NOT TO BE PRESENT TO WIN!  All funds will benefit the Gresham Barlow Education Foundation 20/Twenty Fund.  Additionally, every dollar earned will be matched up to $20,000.  This is a great way to get all those last minute gifts and goodies to complete your holiday and help our schools in the process.

So, put this on your hurry, scurry, hustle, bustle calendar!  December 18th, 12 noon to 8pm at Gresham Ford, 1999 E Powell Blvd.  Take a breath, sit back and let us finish it up!!  We got it handled!

Tis the Season...

Fill A Bag & Help Stop Hunger

Is your church or non-profit organization looking for a way to help those in our community that may be a little less fortunate this Holiday Season?  Well, here’s the answer for you.  The Fourth Annual Fill-A-Bag food drive for SnowCap Community Charities is in full swing! If you’d like to pick up a stack of bags to take to your church or organization stop by Gresham Ford.  We’re open until midnight and you can pick them up anytime.

You can drop the filled bags at Riverview Community Bank on Burnside, Gresham Ford, Stamp-Connection or Balance Health & Injury Clinic.  SnowCap not only benefits greatly from all the food donations, but the cash donations are an even better blessing.  For every $1 donated, SnowCap can purchase 20 pounds of food!!  That’s $.05 a pound!! There is an envelope attached to each bag if you’d like to mail in your contributions or you can also donate online at: http://www.snowcap.org/Donate.aspx.

Another great annual event that is happening is “A Celebration of Thanksgiving” presented by Adventist Health.  This Annual Thanksgiving concert highlighting a commitment to hope and healing features Wayne Watson and Susan Ashton.  Admission is free with your donated nonperishable food items, but a ticket is required as space is limited.  All donations will benefit the Oregon Food Bank.  Tickets are available at Gresham Ford, but they’re going fast.  It will be held at New Hope Community Church, 11731 SE Stevens Rd, Happy Valley, November 22 at 7pm.

So, as we approach the Season of all Seasons, remember you can Fill-A-Bag or attend a concert and
make a difference!

Are you Up for the Challenge?

Every year, local businesses work together organizing and facilitating the Annual Fill-A-Bag food drive, benefiting our local food bank, SnowCap Community Charities.  Last year alone, over 500,000 pounds of food were collected for SnowCap feeding East County families for at least three months.

Fill-A-Bag begins with a bag folding party.  The bags are folded and then a letter and envelope are stapled to them explaining the program and these are then inserted into The Outlook newspaper and
distributed to 10,000 residents.  The Outlook has been a huge supporter and partner in making this drive so successful.  The insert date this year will be November 18th, so keep an eye out for those bags in your local paper.

Or, if you’d like to stop by and pick up a bag, Riverview Community Bank on Burnside, Gresham Ford, Stamp Connection or Balance Health & Injury Clinic will all have them available.

So, this brings us to the “challenge” part!  We’ve added something new to the mix this year. Balance 
Health & Injury Clinic had this fabulous idea of a “Challenge Game Night”.  How this works is, different businesses set up a challenge/game at their respective booth.  Each person wanting to play will accumulate points and prizes for each game.  The person that has the most points at the end will win the grand prize (TBD).  Stamp Connection, Bass Federation, Native Wine Rock, Thunder Elite Gym, Gresham Ford and Balance Health are just a few of the sponsors that will have fun and entertaining challenges.  Tickets will be purchased to play the games with all proceeds to benefit SnowCap.

Come on out, November 14th, 5-8:30pm at 1217 NE Burnside Rd, Ste 301, Gresham, if you’re up for it!

Fill A Bag Folding Party Tonight!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Food Drive to Benefit Snow/Cap
East County Fill-A-Bag Kick Off 2014

Gresham, Oregon, November 7, 2014 – Residents are invited to help combat hunger this winter by participating in the efforts among local businesses to fill SnowCap Community Charities’ food pantry.

On Friday November 7^th, Gresham Ford, Riverview Community Bank, Stamp Connection, Balance Health & Injury Clinic, The Outlook, Gresham Rotary & Lions, Greater Gresham Baptist and Drake’s 7 Dees will kick off the fourth annual Fill-A-Bag Program, with a goal of collecting more than 300,000 pounds of food during the program’s run, which is through Friday January 2^nd, 2015.  Residents will find a bag for non-perishable donations in an upcoming issue of The Outlook as well as an envelope for financial contributions.  For every $1 donated, SnowCap can purchase 20 pounds of food.

In addition, Gresham Ford, located at 1999 E Powell Blvd, will be hosting the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center combined with North Clackamas Chamber of Commerce morning AM meeting at 7am.  There will be a raffle drawing and for every entry for the drawing, Gresham Ford will donate $1 to SnowCap.  Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center and North Clackamas Chamber of Commerce have also designated the 50/50 proceeds from the morning meeting to go to SnowCap.

Community members who would like to donate non-perishable food items can take them to Gresham Ford, Stamp Connection, Drake’s 7 Dees, Riverview Community Bank, Greater Gresham Baptist Church, The Outlook and Balance Health & Injury Clinic.  For more information, call Gresham Ford at 503-665-0101.

# # #

Contact:	Amy Williamson
	Gresham Ford
	503.407.6764
	awilliamson@greshamford.com

A Beautiful Vespa.....

For the past 20 years members of the Gresham Barlow Education Foundation have worked tirelessly to provide funds (20 years=3.9 million) for a multitude of extra services, enhanced curriculum, and special equipment for the students of the district. In addition, during this time they have been working on building an endowment fund of $1 million dollars that would provide perpetual funding for scholarships and grants for the district.

Recently, in light of that goal, the President of the Foundation, Vince Patrick, on behalf of he and his wife Lindsay have pledged a matching grant of $20,000 to the Foundation to get that fund to a million dollars. As a local Mortgage Broker and graduate of Barlow High School he understands how important a quality education is to our community. So, how can we all help obtain this gracious offer to benefit our community’s kids?

Well you can “Win A Vespa” – a maximum of 500 tickets will be sold at $20 each from now until
December 18th Ford and purchase tickets from the cashier or contact any GBEF board member or go online at http://www.gbefkids.org/events-2014/, drawing to be held at 7:15pm. You can see the Beautiful Vespa displayed at Gresham.

Thank you to Bill Place of Milwaukie Vespa for partnering with us to make this happen.

One Day that Made A Difference

For all those that put their lives on the line and come home to, sometimes, less than favorable situations and circumstances, here was a day, for some, that may have been a bright spot.  Last Saturday, October 18th The Chapel in Troutdale served a total of 202 vets with an outpouring of volunteer services and opportunities that they may not otherwise have any access to. Haircuts, dental care, cookies from the VFW Women’s Auxiliary, rides from Ride Connection, food, clothing, and the list goes on. 375 meals were served by volunteers with food provided by Birch Community Services, Safeway, and Portland Stand Down with other various donations from Susan Roobish, Hillsboro Elks, Kirk Robinson, The Tuenes, American Legion, VFW 180, Daniel Elam and Gresham Ford. Every branch of the military was represented that day and family and friends as well.

How can we really give back to those that have sacrificed so much. In the hopes that this one day made a difference and that they felt we, as a community cared, for at least for one day was the true heart and soul of every person that has planned, worked, and given months in preparation for. On the grand scale and all things being as they are, it may seem to pale in comparison to all they have given, but in this small way, we all say “Thank You” to all those that have served, fought and given their very lives for us.

Fill’er Up for SnowCap!

It’s that time again!!  The Annual SnowCap Community Charities Fill-A-Bag food drive is gearing up to hit it hard again this year!!  Last year, thanks to our amazing community members and local businesses, over 500,000 pounds of food were donated during the Fill-A-Bag campaign.  Spearheaded by Riverview Community Bank, Gresham Ford, Stamp Connection, Drake’s 7 Dees, Balance Health & Injury Clinic, The Outlook, Gresham Lions, Gresham Rotary and Greater Gresham Baptist Church, we are looking for a great program this season!! 

Here’s some dates to remember so far: November 6^th, Fill-A-Bag Folding Party at Gresham Ford 5-9pm, November 7^th Fill-A-Bag Kick Off Gresham Chamber AM at Gresham Ford 7am, November 12^th Burgerville 10% to SnowCap night 5-8pm, November 14^th Balance Health Challenge Game Night (location TBD) 5-8:30pm, December 4^th Burgerville 10% to SnowCap night 5-8pm and December 9^th Fill-A-Bag Dinner hosted by Riverview Community Bank.

Fill A Bag at Gresham Ford

Something new we’re doing this year is the Challenge Game Night hosted by Balance Health & Injury Clinic.  Local businesses will set up a booth and have a game pertaining to their business.  Points will be accumulated as participants complete each game.  There will be prizes to be won at each booth and at the end of the night, the person with the most points from all the games, will win the GRAND PRIZE!  So, whether you’re a business wishing to participate or someone just up for a challenge, it’s going to be great fun, with all proceeds for the event going to SnowCap!  For more information please call Caterina Robertson at 503-492-2625.

So, get these dates on your calendar and help us Fill Those Bags for SnowCap again this year!