"I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change...I'm asking you to believe in yours."

-President Barack Obama

Get involved in the DPO's 2009

April 19-26, Earth Day  --  June 14-21, Support Our Troops  --
August 16-23, Back To School  --  Nov. 29-Dec. 6, Food and Shelter

Putting our VALUES into local ACTION.

It's not just about politics or policies; it's not just about Oregon or Washington, D.C.  Change is about our communities and the people in them, with whom we share spaces, resources, a home, a story.

Values In Action (VIA) is an opportunity to turn the big idea into local action, to help your community, to unite Democrats in community service, and much more.

YOU can be part of change!  Here's how:

Host a service project!  We'll help you out with the leg work too, providing:
     -service project ideas
     -local contacts for you--places in need of service AND people who want to volunteer
     -assistance with listing your event in local papers
     -help recruiting volunteers
     -Values In Action swag to wear & give away at your service project
     -recognition of your success & hard work on our website!

Participate in a service project!  We'll get you connected with a service activity in your area.

Contact the Values in Action Team to find out more about hosting and participating.

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November 29-December 6
Food and Shelter

Washington County

Hillsboro Sylvan Learning Center:  Beginning November 16 and continuing through December 4, the Sylvan Learning Center in Hillsboro will be collecting new and gently used coats and sweaters to donate to the Clothes Closet at the Hillsboro Family Resource Center.

Washington County, Clothes Closet:  Please stop by with donations for the Clothes Closet, and contact Nancy Dening at (503) 640-1150 or sylvanhillsboro@netzero.com with any questions about this event.

Washington County Democrats' holiday food drive:  The WashCo Dems are hosting a Holiday food drive to benefit the Oregon Food Bank in Washington County. They will also be collecting donations for the clothing drive for the Clothes Closet. Contact Glen Geller at (503) 320-4798 or vicechair@washcodems.org

Klamath County

The Klamath County Democrats prepare and feed dinner to approximately 100 people in Klamath Falls at the First United Methodist Church in Klamath Falls. This monthly event will be held Tuesday, November 24.
Contact Liz Schmitt for details (541) 205-4850 or eschmitt4164@charter.net with any questions about this event.

Marion County

The Marion County Democrats will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Marion-Polk Food Share at their meetings. Please help out by bringing food items to the Marion County Democrats office in Salem.
Contact Chair Rick Hartwig at hartmus@comcast.net with questions about this event.

Lane County

The Democratic Party of Lane County will be collecting items for hygiene kits for ShelterCare in Eugene. Items they need: shampoo, razors, dish soap, bar soap, scrubbers for dishes, bath tissue, comb/brush, toothpaste, toothbrush, paper towels, dish towels, bath towels. Please bring donations to the Lane County Democrats’ office.

They will be bringing items collected to ShelterCare, where volunteers will sort items on Saturday, December 5. Contact Gina Herrmann: (541) 654-2705 and Frances White (541) 653-8823 with questions about this event.

Benton County

The Benton County Democrats will be attending the Linn-Benton Food Share to sort food items. Please Contact Christina Sudduth at (541) 430-3168 or csc_hunger@oregonstate.edu with questions about this event.

Clackamas County

The Clackamas County Democrats are collecting food at their upcoming meeting Thursday 11/19, to benefit a variety of local food banks. Food can be delivered to 609 Main St., Oregon City.
Contact Larry Skidmore at (503) 327-9739 or escuche97@yahoo.com with any questions about this event.

Douglas County

The Douglas County Democrats are currently collecting food for UCAN; please stop by their office with donations and contact Dean Byers at (541) 672-8094 with questions about their food drive.

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August 16-23:
Back To School

Yard Sale to Benefit "Ready to Start School Right" Program
Josephine County, August 1
The Josephine County Democratic Central Committee participated in a community-wide "yard sale" for non-profits.  We donated the proceeds, $251, to the "Ready to Start School Right" program.  The money will be used to buy school supplies for low income children in Josephine County. (Photo above)

Taking Care of Education and Schools
Douglas County, July-August
The Douglas County Dems spent the Summer gathering supplies for local students, including backpacks, personal hygiene items, and traditional school supplies.  They distributed the goods to 7 schools in 5 districts within the county at the start of school.  Throughout the year, the Douglas County Democrats will continue to collect items and distribute them to schools and students in need.

School Supply Drive Collects Over 14 Bins for Local Kids in Need
Lane County, August 16-30
Local volunteer and Democratic supporter Harold Titus led a school supply drive for low-income families in Florence, OR.  Thanks to donations from community members and many Fred Meyer shoppers, the drive collected over 14 bins of school supplies for the local Boys and Girls Club and a local church, St. Vincent's.

A Different King of Workplace Giving: Hand-Me-Down Book Drive
Marion County, August 16-23
Local volunteer and Democratic supporter Sally Koch hosted a children's book drive at her office in Salem, collecting 2 boxes of books for local kids in need.

School Supply and Book Drive
Washington County, August 16-28
The Washington County Democrats hosted a book and supply drive at their office and collected a box of supplies for the local Boys and Girls Club, and a box of books for the Children's Book Bank, a Portland-based project that restores hand-me-down books for local Head Start students.

Book Drive and Restoration with the Children's Book Bank
Multnomah County, August
The DPO and the Multnomah County Democrats hosted a book drive to benefit the Children's Book Bank (link), a Portland-based project that restores hand-me-down books for local Head Start students.

The DPO also hosted a Book Clean-Up Night at the Children's Book Bank on Tuesday, August 18th. 14 volunteers cleaned and repaired over 160 books--enough for 12 children to receive 13 new books each.  (Photo above)

June 14-21:
Support our Troops

University of Oregon Democrats, June 20
University of Oregon Democrats and volunteers from Lane County came together at a local park and jam-packed 8 boxes with everything a soldier could want to be reminded of home: from books, magazines, and personal letters to snacks and practical toiletries, and even a few humorous items like fake parking tickets.  (Photo above)

Wasco County, June 21
The Wasco County Democrats joined together with the VA Veterans’ Home in The Dalles to send care packages to our troops. After a week of collecting supplies veterans, democrats and community volunteers spent Sunday morning packing up little pieces of home to send to Oregonian soldiers in Iraq.

Clackamas County, entire month of June
The Clackamas County Dems set up three donation centers in June collecting books, CDs, magazines, candy, and more, which they're packing up to send to our troops!

Multnomah County, July 7
The Democratic Party of Oregon, the Multnomah Democrats, Northwest Portland Ministries, and residents at Gallagher Plaza teamed up to hold a July Values in Action care package party.  Together we packed 10 boxes totally full of everything from toothpaste and candy to baseballs and gloves!

Volunteers all over Oregon, June 14-21
The volunteers below gathered at home with friends, family and neighbors, sending hand-made cards, lightweight books, and healthy snacks to our troops!

The Miller Family, Washington County
Sandra Helmick, Benton County
Amy Gibson, Lane County
Michelle Border, Lane County
Deborah Botnen, Deschutes County
Patricia Price-Yates, Clark County, WA

Other Values In Action projects in June:

Grant County Democrats will soon be adopting a highway!  As of June 22, they have nearly 400 Lbs. of food donated at the local store. The Grant County Democratic Committee has also donated $275 to the local food bank.

Hood River County Democrats, in coordination with the Columbia RiverKeeper and the Hood River Waterfront Park Association, turned out more than 40 volunteers to weed and spruce up the new Waterfront Park in Hood River. The group also collected 1,476 lbs of food for the local food bank, with more on the way!

Marion County Democrats have an on-going food drive for the Marion-Polk Food Share. In addition, on Saturday, June 20th, they participated in their second Adopt-A-Highway pick-up program.  (Photo below)

April 19-26:
Earth Day

Polk County, April 26
At Polk county's Values In Action event, even the County Commissioner turned out to help the Polk Co. Dems clean up their Adopt-A-Highway area!  At least one new volunteer joined several "regulars" for three hours on Sunday, picking up 14 bags of litter along the highway!

Union County, April 21
Union County Democrats organized a 'baby shower' drive for all items that new parents need.  Over 30 local families benefited from the generous donations they collected for the Healthy Start and Babies First program!

Washington County, April 19
In Washington County, more than 25 people turned out for a clean-up project on Scholls Ferry Highway in Farmington -- 2 hours of work meant over 50 volunteer hours helping the local environment and community!

Multnomah County, April 18
The Saturday before Earth Day, 11 Multnomah Dems volunteers joined a SOLV project called Spiffin' Up MLK, a neighborhood clean-up initiative.  "Together, with over 150 volunteers attending, we revitalized plants and landscapes, scrubbed clean and painted more than 15 graffiti sites, and cleaned up roughly 5,000 pounds of trash and 2,500 pounds of yard debris from NE MLK, Jr. Blvd in Portland!" (Photo above)
--KC Hanson, Multnomah County Chair

Jefferson County, April 11
"In Jefferson County, we set up a donation center at the local Erickson's Thriftway to collect food for the Jefferson County food bank from 11 am to 6 pm, with volunteers Stephen Hillis and Pam Cline at the collection point.  We raised 33 pounds of food and $151.67 in cash for the Jefferson County Food Bank!"
--Stan Nowakowski, Jefferson County Co-Chair