Thank you for helping to end hunger in East County

Once again, the outpouring of generosity from this community has had overwhelming results!  The pounds of food collected during this year’s Fill-A-Bag Food Drive for SnowCap brought in approximately 555,520 pounds of food!  And with the help offered from the Oregon Food Bank, $.05 can buy a pound of food so all the cash donated was stretched well beyond normal costs!  So, a huge THANK YOU  to this amazing place that we live where neighbors care about neighbors and also, an organization like the Oregon Food Bank with the resources and willingness to help!

This year, with the donations pouring in from the Fill-A-Bag food drive, SnowCap Community Charities was able to feed 2,545 FAMILIES, that’s about 10,000 individuals during the month of December.  Any time of year is hard for families that are struggling just to survive, but the holidays are even harder when there’s too much month at the end of the money.  With your help, these families were able to enjoy gathering with their family and friends for this holiday season around the table for a good meal!

A little insight into the world that SnowCap reaches, these are working families and senior citizens that just need a little extra to keep going.  Only 10% are actually homeless and the goal is to give these folks a hand up so they don’t end up on the streets. A wonderful story from this past year, a family that struggled for 3 years, with assistance from SnowCap they were able to get back on track and they were the first to donate back to SnowCap with $2,000 that kicked off the December 2015 donations!

But don’t forget about our struggling neighbors throughout the year!  A nickel can buy a pound of food through SnowCap and the Oregon Food Bank so it’s something everyone can do.  Get your kids involved and show them that giving can really make a difference!!

Thank you for participating in the 2016 Fill A Bag Food Drive for Snow Cap Community Charities

Another season has ended for our annual Fill-A-Bag Food Drive for SnowCap as well.  This morning at Riverview Community Bank will be the final recap but there’s still time to clean out your cabinets and pantries! Stop by Gresham Ford, Riverview Community Bank, Stamp Connection or Balance Health & Injury Clinic and they’ll be glad to get your contribution counted in for the final tally!   Stay tuned next week for the results of this year’s food drive.  Last year we were able to fulfill SnowCap’s needs for three months. That’s a huge deal, and it’s all because of this generous caring community! So, thank you again to all who participated to make this a success once again!

Oil feeds more than your engine.

We at Gresham Ford are so blessed to partner with other businesses in our community to work on projects that benefit the less fortunate throughout the year.   And when a business goes above and
beyond they should be recognized - so drum roll please – as we applaud Carson Oil and its employees
for going above and beyond to help “Fill-A-Bag” benefiting  SnowCap Community Charities.  They
wanted to do more than just write a check they wanted to get their employees involved -  and their employees wanted to get involved even better…so they collected non-perishable items (literally a truck load full) and took up a sizable donation (north of $1,000) to give to “Fill-A-Bag” for SnowCap.   And the most impressive part is this is just one of the many charitable projects they complete during the holiday season.

Carson Oil provides most of the oil and lubricant products here at Gresham Ford so when you have an oil change in our QuickLane, where we work on all makes and models and are open Monday thru Friday 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. (winter hours) and Saturdays 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., you are getting oil from a company that not only cares about the performance of your car but cares about your community also.

The morning that Shawn Ghods, Account Manager for Carson Oil showed up with all of this I unfortunately was tied up with auditors (you know all that year end stuff) so I was feeling over-regulated and wondering why do we do all this work – when regulations make it sometimes so difficult…when Shawn made me realize business is more than business-- it is about taking care of our
community….Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from Gresham Ford proud to work with Carson Oil  a business that helps us serve our customers and our community!

Fill-A-Bag and Help to End Hunger in East County

For the past several years, we’ve participated in the Fill-A-Bag Food drive for SnowCap Community
Charities.  And this year is no different!  Last week we kicked it off with the bag folding party so be looking for those bags in the Outlook newspaper as of the 17th.  Next, we have a few dates you might want to remember: November 1st-30th- Pay it Forward at Gresham Family Chiropractic, 575 NE 2nd St, Gresham, will donate $20 to SnowCap for every patient that comes in with a Fill-A-Bag filled with non-perishable items.

November 28th-The Spirit of Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony with many fun activities for the kids during the day, Historic Downtown Gresham.  There will be a parade from downtown to the Center for the Arts Plaza at 4:30pm with the tree lighting at 5pm. For more information please call, Event Coordinator Shannon Chisom at 503-750-3785.

December 3rd  & 17th-10% of Sales between 5-8pm at Burgerville, 2975 NE Hogan Dr, Gresham, going to SnowCap.  Bring your families out for a great dinner and 10% will go to helping our neighbors right here in Gresham.

December 9th-Annual Fill-A-Bag Auction & Dinner at Riverview Community Bank, 225 NE Burnside Rd, Gresham, 6pm.  Please contact Larry Schwartz for more information, larryschwartz@riverviewbank.com (503) 912-5400.

December 11th-SnowCap Breakfast at Gresham Baptist Church, 3848 N.E. Division St., 7am.  Hosted by the Gresham Chamber of Commerce, the proceeds from this event will benefit SnowCap, My Father’s House and Human Solutions.  For more information please contact, Julie Hamatake at the Gresham Chamber of Commerce at julieh@greshamchamber.org or 503-665-1131.

January 7th-Casino Night at Balance Health & Injury Clinic, 1217 NE Burnside Rd #301, Gresham.  Details to follow.  For more information please contact, Caterina Robertson at 503-492-2625.

If anyone has any other events related to this food drive, please contact Bess Wills at Gresham Ford,
bess@greshamford.com, 503-665-0102.

You can also stop by many locations and drop off non-perishable food items or donate cash in the donation jars.  For a complete list please contact Kirsten Wageman at Kirsten@snowcap.org or 971-235-4504.

The holidays bring Fill-A-Bag benefiting Snow Cap and hungry East County Families

The Holidays are right around the corner and it is the time of the year we reflect on Thanks and giving…and for both those reasons we are excited to again be a part of “Fill-A-Bag” or “Fill-An-Envelope”.  This effort benefits SnowCap our local Food Pantry for those needing a “hand”.   Local is the key word here….these are our friends and neighbors…working single moms that just need a little extra “food” resources to make it thru the month, a Senior Citizen whose winter utility bill makes it necessary for them to have to choose food or warmth.  

While cleaning out your pantry and giving extra staples and canned items to this food drive (bags will be inserted into the newspaper the week of November 17th) are always welcome.  However, if you are going shopping to “fill the bag” you might want to consider putting money in the attached envelop or going online to SnowCap.org and make a donation.   The reason being is that SnowCap as a charter member of the Oregon Food Bank  and because of the corporate generosity (Ford Motor Company is one of them) to the Oregon Food Bank they are able to purchase a pound for food for $.05.  You cannot duplicate that at your local market so even a $1 given to SnowCap will provide a family in our community 20 pounds of food.

One hundred years ago we would have put a basket of food together and taken it to the widow the next farm over who was unable to gather crops the previous summer because “giving” is a way to show “thanks” for being blessed.  Today we do not always know who our neighbors in need are but SnowCap does and they get almost 100% of the resources given them into the hands of those that need a good neighbor!  Watch for the “Fill-A-Bag” or “Fill-An-Envelope” in this newspaper soon and when you do please share if you can!  

P.S.  If you are reading this before 4:00 p.m.  today please come down to Gresham Ford and take a “no pressure” test drive and $20 will be donated to SnowCap on your behalf!  That’s 400 pounds of food!

Did you know?

As times are changing, the automotive industry has to find innovative ways to keep up and if you think about the evolution of the automobile, it’s pretty amazing how far we’ve come!  Can you imagine (especially as a women) riding in those first vehicles?  No windows, seats as hard as stone, no heat and while they did have springs of sorts, I would imagine you still got the wind knocked out of you if you hit a pothole too fast.

Well, we all know about gas vehicles, we know about hybrids and we know about electric powered
vehicles.  But did you know Ford has a vehicle that has the best of everything in the electric/battery/gas operated world?  Meet the Hybrid-Energi!  Full electric, fully gas and everything in between.  This special vehicle will hold a charge for approximately 20 miles of driving before kicking into the gas powered engine.  What that means is, if you only drive five miles to work everyday, you will never use a drop of gas!!!

So, you could drive to work, drive to the grocery store or maybe some other in town shopping and drive home!  Plug it into your cozy garage at night, and then drive right by all those gas stations smiling and waving!

So, to put this to the test, I have recently purchased a Ford Fusion Hybrid-Energi.  I filled it with gas, documented the miles and I plan to see how long it takes me before I need to get fuel again.  I will be doing updates so stay tuned here to find out how it’s going!

Happy Halloween everyone! Stay safe out there!

No Tricks , Just Treats!

Are you looking for some safe and fun Halloween activities for you and your kids this Jack-O-Lantern season?  Well here are some local ideas you might want to check out.

Come enjoy some "boo-tiful" classical music, dress in your favorite Halloween costume and join us for some "Spooktacular" kid-friendly fun. Riverview Community Bank proudly presents The Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra's Symphonic, “Safari Goes Halloween”, October 25th at Parkrose High School, 12003 NE Shaver St, Portland at 3pm. Engage in hands-on pre concert arts, crafts, and activities.

And watch as the, “The Sorcerer's Apprentice” comes to life with puppets from Tears of Joy. Don’t miss this fun for the entire family!  Then you can head to downtown Gresham where every year The Historic Downtown Gresham Business Association blocks off the Gresham downtown Main Ave between 1st and 5th for a safe trick-or-treat event to celebrate Halloween. Bring the kids and join other families on Main Ave, Saturday October 31st from 4pm-6pm and and get candy from local merchants who are staying open to hand out tricks and/or treats.

And from there venture on over to Greater Gresham Baptist Church, 8848 NE Division, Gresham, for their “No Tricks, Just Treats” event, 6pm-8pm.  With games and cupcake decorating, hot cider, hot chocolate and coffee too, you’re sure to find something for the whole family.

“It's late and we are sleepy, the air is cold and still. Our jack-o-lantern grins at us upon the windowsill. We're stuffed with cake and candy, and we've had a lot of fun, but now it's time to go to
bed and dream of all we've done. And we'll dream of trick-or-treating on this happy Halloween”.-Author unknown