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Stay home, Stay well!
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We hope this newsletter finds you well and in good spirits. We wanted to send out a special  edition to inform you of Important mobilizations happening in the neighborhood.

RRCO meeting April 13 is cancelled.

Look for candidates statements to be published in our next newsletter.
In the meantime, enjoy these items:

Food and healthcare offered at Howard Elementary
Reality Kitchen launching food distribution program - needs help
Socially Distinced Gardening help with your neighbors
Local Covid-19 information and resources
Supports for Students During School Closure
Published:by 4J on  March 15, 2020
Free lunches, healthcare services available Mon.–Fri., March 16–20
School is canceled for students beginning Monday, March 16, a week before the scheduled start of spring break, in accordance with Gov. Kate Brown’s directive to temporarily close all K–12 schools in Oregon. School is scheduled to resume for students on April 1.
Eugene School District 4J will offer key supports this week to help ease the impacts of the school closure on families. Schools are an important source of nutritious meals and other supports for many students. The district will provide free meals and keep open its two school-based health centers the week before spring break.
Free Meals for Students 
Free grab-and-go meals will be available for students and for all youth 18 and younger at several sites across the district the week before spring break, March 16–20. Families can choose the location that is most convenient for them, regardless of where they live or attend school.
Dates: Monday–Friday, March 16–20
Hours: 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Howard Elementary School, 700 Howard Ave. (front door)
LTD moves to Sunday Service Schedule. All rides are free.  https://www.ltd.org/covid-19/
Our Status Update
Following the guidelines from Oregon Department of Developmental Disabilities Services, Governor Brown and the Federal Government we have made the decision to temporarily suspend the delivery of our Employment Path Program to those we serve who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities, We have posted this notice that we are temporarily closing our cafe and wholesale production baking operations. 
Thank you for your understanding and ongoing support of our Mission!

This is a particularly hard hit on us as a nonprofit organization and our staff and their families, but we remain committed to a forward looking response.

Reality Kitchen will be doing all we can to help our elders and those in our River Road Neighborhood, as well as the larger community, by offering our facilities to help feed those in need in the days ahead. As more and more food service businesses are closing across town, now is our opportunity to give back to our community, as you have supported us in the past. 
We are prepared to do our best to help those who need it the most.

In the days going forward:

  • We will partner with other nonprofits that already help those who struggle with food insecurity (Burrito Brigade, Food for Lane County and other local food service businesses) to be of help. 
  • We will offer dairy-free bread and pretzels, vegetarian soups and freshly prepared food for friends and neighbors to pick up from our  take out window
  • We will work with business partners and other local suppliers to receive donations of healthy options and the supplies we will need.
To learn more about this plan, please see our website update coming April 1, 2020.    www.realitykitchen,org

To accomplish this, we will ask you to consider offering your help in some way  
  • Making a financial or in kind donation to Reality Kitchen Nonprofit. 
  • Offering you volunteer labor, skills, professional services and food products
  • Please contact us with other ways you can help: realitykitchen@gmail.com
If we have earned your trust and support in the past, can we ask you to make a one time financial donation of whatever your budget will permit?  

Perhaps you would become a sustaining friend of Reality Kitchen by offering a monthly donation that will build a foundation now that will carry us through these days and into the future ?

Your monthly donation beginning at $10.00, or more if you can, will make all the difference in how we are able to respond to this time, together.

Thank you for your consideration and generous support !
Jim Evangelista, Executive Director

Growing your own food  in the face of uncertainty

Given the uncertainty that the corona virus presents, RRCO is putting together an initiative to help River Road neighbors address concerns generated by the virus disruption. We would like to help facilitate people starting home gardens, edible landscaping and related actions to produce more basic needs at home.
 
To clarify, RRCO is not going into the home transformation business.  We are offering advice on how to make changes where you live that can enhance your personal security and well being and, perhaps to connect you with others who have skills that fit your needs, perhaps volunteer, perhaps for pay. There are many related benefits to producing more food, water and energy at home. Best to get started sooner than later.
 
We are still working out how to manage this initiative and will evolve it as we go with help from people who would like to take action at home.  We ask you to help shape this initiative - what information can help you?  Better to start sooner than later.
 
We will be creating a set of questions to ask those interested what they need to start making changes at home to be more resilient and secure.  Advice, various skills and expertise?
 
At this moment, here is what we are looking for.: 
1] If you would like to produce more food, energy, water and resilience at home.  Please contact us.
 2] If you have a skill or time to share with others for making their homes more green and resilient, please contact us.  For example, gardening experience, home improvement project experience, rain water system experience, home remodeling and whatever else you think will help others.

We will respond with a set of questions so we can better understand what people need to know and what assets we have in the neighborhood to help people with their home "improvement" projects.
 
And to be clear again, RRCO is not going into the contracting business.  We want to facilitate people making better use of what they have at home to make where they live more green and resilient.  We have many opportunities and assets in RR that can benefit us all in many ways. 
Please contact us at janrspencer@gmail.com or Lynne  lijl653@hotmail.com  Please include your name, contact, address and brief description of what you have in mind, and if you have practical skills that can be part of creating a more green and resilient neighborhood.
River Road can put this unprecedented corona condition to unprecedented good use.
 
You can see Inspiring examples of resilience  projects at www.suburbanpermaculture.org 
FREE ONLINE VEGETABLE GARDENING COURSE
OSU (Oregon) Master Gardener Program
A lot of folks are suddenly interested in learning how to grow their own food. So, through the end of April, we are making OSU's online Vegetable Gardening course FREE.
https://workspace.oregonstate.edu/course/master-gardener-short-course-series?
Local Covid-19 information and resources
The Lane County Mutual Aid network has organized to respond to the needs of the community in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We collectively have the capacity to move through this crisis with love, compassion, and a dedication to justice.
 
This crisis has highlighted the flaws in our current system. Due to structural inequality, economic disparity, inaccessible healthcare, and an inadequate response from all levels of government, we are all at risk. Because of this reality, we have chosen to act. 
 
We have live forms to Request Aid and Volunteer Aid (Spanish versions: Request Aid and Volunteer Aid), which seek to connect people to existing services and each other, and are eager to create a region-wide network of Neighborhood Point People who are keen to the needs and resources on their block.
 
Through this mutual aid effort, neighbors can communicate to identify and respond to each other’s needs in a way that our federal, state, and local governments cannot. Please fill out a form to request aid or volunteer. You can also find Lane County Mutual Aid on Facebook and Instagram at @lanecountymutualaid, reach out to us at lanemutualaid@gmail.com, or you can call our hotline at (541) 321-8749. Our efforts are only successful when all backgrounds, capabilities, needs, and interests are honored. Together, we can build a better world.
 
With Love and Solidarity,
Lane County Mutual Aid
Food:
Fred Meyer Delivers for a fee: https://www.fredmeyer.com/i/ways-to-shop/delivery
UBER Eats is delivering meals from their clients for free www.ubereats.com

Senior Shopping Hours at local grocery stores:
Costco senior shopping hours When: 8am-9am Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting Tuesday, March 24  Ages 60+
Target senior shopping hours When: The first hour of shopping every Wednesday (check local store for hours)  Ages 65+, customers with disabilities, pregnant shoppers, and shoppers with compromised immune systems.
Safeway senior shopping hours When: 7am-9am, Tuesdays and Thursdays (some store times vary) Senior citizens, pregnant women, customers with compromised immune systems
Walmart senior shopping hours When: 1 hour before opening to the public, every Tuesday (most open at 7am)
Who: Senior citizens
Albertsons senior shopping hours When: 7am-9am, Tuesdays and Thursdays (some store times vary) Senior citizens, pregnant women, customers with compromised immune systems
Whole Foods senior shopping hours When: 1 hour before opening to the public (most open at 8am) Ages 60+
Market of Choice (hours 8 AM to 9 PM) When: 7 am – 8 am on Tuesdays & Fridays
Winco Senior shopping hours from 6AM to 7:30AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (60+), Vulnerable Populations and WinCo Employee Owners
Trader Joes  Every day between 9AM and 10AM, Crew Members will maintain an additional line outside the front door for our senior customers. 

 Government Information:
City of Eugene: https://www.eugene-or.gov/4333/COVID-19-Coronavirus
Eugene 4-J services for Students during School Closure:
https://www.4j.lane.edu/2020/03/supports-during-school-closure/
Bethel School District Services during School Closure http://www.bethel.k12.or.us/blog/2020/03/14/student-resources-during-school-closure/
Lane County Public Health Covid-19 541-682-1380 site:  https://lanecounty.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=3585881&pageId=16503774
Oregon Health Authority: https://govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-COVID-19
Click here to sign up for daily updates from the Oregon Health Authority
Oregon Office of Emergency Management: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6c96b225a8424992b56e59400a30dab4

Other:
KLCC Live Radio Town Hall: COVID-19 03/20/2020: https://www.klcc.org/post/klcc-live-radio-town-hall-covid-19
Eugene/Springfield NAACP Community Tookit  
RRCO board position still open. 
If you are interested, please call or email Jon Belcher at 541-343-6695 or jbelcher@efn.org.
Yard Signs now available at Reality Kitchen!  Or get yours at the Monday night meeting for a $12 donation.
Copyright © 2020 River Road Community Organization, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
riverroadcommunityorganization@gmail.com

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RRCO · 1055 River Road · Eugene, Or 97404 · USA

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