President’s Message
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” — Coretta Scott King
Talk about compassionate action in our community…
Prior to the blood drive we co-sponsored in November with the Beaumont PTA, the Red Cross told us it’s been tough to find blood donors during this pandemic. Based on their years of experience, their team planned for an estimated 20 to 25 donations at our drive. Our compassionate neighborhood almost doubled that amount, enough to help save over 120 lives. Our deepest thanks go to all those donors who opened their hearts (and veins!) to help others. Thanks, too, to tireless volunteers Sandy McDaniel from the Beaumont PTA and Karla Lenox and Jan Giske Gillespie from BWNA who made the whole operation work, and to always-supportive Beaumont Principal Dr. Harriette Vimegnon. As Karla noted, “Several people said it made them love their neighborhood to see an event like this.”
There’s more…In our publicity for the drive, we also encouraged folks unable to donate blood to instead consider donating to the Beaumont PTA’s Family Resiliency Fund. That charitable fund was established to help families affected by the pandemic and experiencing emergencies that might impact students’ ability to perform at their best in school. As of mid-December when I’m writing this, over $5,000 has been raised in conjunction with the blood drive. I am filled with awe and wonder at that generosity.
If you want to learn more about the fund or donate, check out: https://app.memberhub.gives/gobeaumontbobcats/Campaign/Details
“Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say: this is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better.” — Late Oregon Governor Tom McCall
On the front page of this issue you read about the guest presentation at December’s general meeting made by Ryan Baker, the volunteer team leader of the city’s Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NETs) program for the Beaumont-Wilshire and Alameda neighborhoods. Since 1994, Portland’s Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) has operated this program, based on the following goal: in the event of a citywide or regional emergency such as a severe winter storm, flood, wildfire, heatwave, major Cascadia earthquake, or long-term power outage caused by any of those events, households need to be prepared to be on their own for at least a week. If firefighters, police, or emergency responders are overwhelmed by calls for help or slowed by impassable streets, neighbors may need to be first on the scene to help. In other words, the heroes we need are us.
For its part, the city uses PBEM and Portland Fire & Rescue to train volunteer residents through the NETs program in providing emergency disaster assistance in their own neighborhoods until professional responders can arrive. This makes me think of my parents’ stories about “block captains” during World War II, neighbors who volunteered (18,000 in Multnomah County alone!) to enforce air-raid blackouts, conduct civilian defense drills, and make sure everyone was doing okay. Those citizen heroes offered a model of local patriotism. BWNA aims to promote and support the organizing of our neighborhood for potential future emergencies, following in that grand tradition. Join us!