You're Invited

May 3-7 is Nurse's Week at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, and for the 700 nurses working here, that means the Fourth Annual Nurse Week Food Drive Competition!

Twenty nursing units compete to donate the most food-per-nurse, with the collected food supporting two fabulous neighborhood programs run by Northwest Portland Ministries: the Emergency Food Box program for low-income residents, and the Food for Kids Backpack program benefiting Chapman School students who otherwise would go home hungry for the weekend.

Weigh-in for the trophy and weighty honor is 8 a.m. Friday, May 7 in the Good Samaritan lobby, 1015 N.W. 22nd Ave. Please join us as we tip the scales against hunger in our neighborhood. (map.)
Last year, Good Sam nurses donated nearly 3,000 pounds of the foods most needed by these programs!

"Nurses are not only focused on their caring and compassion in the hospital, but caring and compassion in the community. The people who need this food are the people they take care of," said Denise Fall, RN, who co-chairs the Nurses Week Food Drive Competition with Desi Shubin, RN. "Nurses," added Shubin, "are really generous."

Hope to see you there!

Curves in Montgomery Park is donating food to us!

Curves of Montgomery park is donating their food to Northwest Portland Ministries during their food drive and is offering women in our community the opportunity to join for free with the donation of a bag of groceries!
Curves - the world’s leader in women’s fitness - offers complete fitness and nutrition solutions. Their workouts exercise every major muscle group, burning up to 500 calories via strength training, cardio and stretching.
In addition to Curves' commitment to help women the world over become strong and healthy, they also encourage women to support local charities, learn about health issues and forge lasting friendships as members of the global Curves community.
This is no-service fee offer is for new members who sign up for a 12 month program and is valid now through March 28th. Curves will also extend the offer to women who donate food directly to NWPM when they bring a note from NWPM as proof.

Beth Israel volunteers pitch in for NWPM

On May 4, more than 260 members of Congregation Beth Israel participated in “Mitzvah Day”—a day of community service. Two of their projects directly benefited Northwest Portland Ministries.
In planning the day’s activities, event chair Carole Barkley, a past president of the NWPM board, enlisted the help of our volunteer coordinator, Kelly Caldwell. “It was really nice to be able to have Kelly involved,” said Carole. “I had no idea how I was going to find enough community projects for that many volunteers on a Sunday!”
With Kelly’s help, ten projects were lined up—among them pulling ivy on trails in Tryon Creek State Park, working in two community gardens, picking up litter in the neighborhood, doing “fix up” at Friendly House Community Center, and holding a food drive to benefit the NWPM emergency food box program.
“The food drive was an obvious choice,” Carole noted, “because Beth Israel is one of the sponsors of the food-box program.” Team leaders Eve Rosenfeld and Jane Netboy passed out grocery bags and flyers after services and set up collection barrels on the synagogue campus. On Mitzvah Day, a team of volunteers sorted and organized food and other grocery items into more than 60 bags and boxes for transport to the food-box pantry.
Meanwhile, another team of volunteers prepared a mailing for NWPM’s annual fund drive. Under Kelly’s direction, they stuffed, labeled, and stamped 900 letters to our organization’s supporters and friends.
At the end of the day, volunteers–some of whom had been transported to and from their work sites via NWPM vehicles—gathered on the synagogue lawn for a party, complete with live music. “This was a good example of how NWPM and a religious congregation can work together to benefit the community,” said Carole. “We plan to do it again!”