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11/20/2013 - Minutes a City of Tigard . , Neighborhood Involvement Committee- Minutes MEETING DATE/TIME: Wednesday, August 21, 2013; 7:00 p.m. MEETING LOCATION: Tigard Library, 2nd Floor Conference Room 13500 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard OR 97223 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Basil Christopher,Jeremy Audritsh,Jeff Scharn, Sue Carver, Cathy Olsen Staff: Joanne Bengtson 3. APPROVE MAY 15,2013 DRAFT MINU'T'ES Sue motioned to accept the May 15 meeting minutes, Cathy seconded - unanimously approved by the committee. 4. UPDATE ON NEIGHBORHOOD SLOG SITES • Joanne noted that the City Council approved this committee's revised bylaws. They were updated to reflect the city's elimination of funding for steering committee and neighborhood annual event projects. • The city is working with a consultant on a marketing scrub to gain insight to the public's perception of Tigard. After that, the city will engage another firm to conduct the biennial community survey. It's designed to provide statistically valid information for Council and executive staff to refine service delivery and measure resident's appetite for new or expanded services. Council is focusing more and more on citizen communication and engagement. That may lead to more resources for neighborhood outreach. • Web admin openings exist for downtown, area 6.Jackie Dirksen has resigned for health reasons. Joanne is also looking for a web administrator in the Cook Park area. • Metro has given two grants to fund downtown housing options and River Terrace planning. • City has hired Lloyd Purdy as an Economic Development Manager for the downtown. Finance reported that some new businesses are coming to the Tigard Triangle and downtown, and Lloyd's efforts will increase that in the downtown. _ Neighborhood Involvement Committee MINUTES - 8/21/13 City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-718-2476 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 1 of 3 • A new batch of neighborhood postcards targeted to advertising each neighborhood blog will go out soon. Joanne will do three or four areas at a time. • Basil asked about posting opportunities for volunteering in the neighborhoods. For instance, trail count volunteers.Joanne suggested sending information about opportunities to her to forward to neighborhood web administrators. The final decision about what to post is made by the web admins. Admins are always looking for feedback from their constituents. • Basil is concerned about keeping news and posts fresh. He asked what can and can't be posted. Joanne shared the web administrator guidelines and noted that it's not been an issue for administrators to restrict advertising on the sites. • The public comment period for suggesting projects to be included in the FY 2015-19 Capital Improvement list closed September 30, 2013. Now the projects will move to the TTAC, Council and staff for prioritization. • Jeremy said his wife is interested in taking over as the Area 10 blogger.Jeff said that's great - she can either take it over entirely or Jeff can share duties with her. Please have her contact Joanne at joanne@tigard-or.gov. 5. NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD PROJECT BY THS STUDENT SAMANTHA SUN Tigard High School student Samantha Sun was joined by fellow food project board members Madelyn, Lynn and Andrea to present information about the Tigard Food Project. Seeking a way to fight poverty in the community, students founded the Tigard Food Project last year using the Ashland Food Project as a model. Samantha stated that the project had no funding last year so students went door to door in the neighborhoods surrounding Tigard High to gain support. They have 30 neighbors participating, but would like to expand that to 100 houses this year. The premise of the program is that Neighborhood Coordinators volunteer to organize small groups of neighbors to become Food Donors. Food donors agree to purchase one extra non-perishable food item every time they shop to donate to the food project. Ideally, the kids will raise money or find a sponsor to purchase reusable green food project bags that are visual reminders of the promise to collect food. At an agreed upon monthly date, the food donors leave the filled bag on their front porch so that students or the neighborhood coordinator can collect it and drop it off at the school for distribution to food banks serving Tigard residents. (See the attachment to these minutes for details. Samantha noted that the problem has been getting food donors to consistently leave food out for collection. They would like the Neighborhood Involvement Committee to help them raise awareness of the project and show their support for it within their own neighborhood. You can contact the group at tigardfoodproject@gmail.com. Neighborhood Involvement Committee MINUTES - 8/21/13 _ City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-718-2476 1 www.tigard-or.go 1 Page 2 of 3 The committee asked questions: • Jeff asked if there was a list of most needed items. See the attached sheet. • Joanne asked if the Whole Foods store on Scholls Ferry had been contacted for help. Maybe one Saturday a month the kids collect food outside the store. • Sue said she preferred the bag as a reminder to buy with each shopping trip. • Jeremy asked if garden produce could be collected - Samantha said no, non-perishable only. Sue said fresh produce could be sent to the Senior Center or Good Neighbor Center. • Joanne asked if the program would be sustainable after the students graduate? Samantha said yes, their student advisor is passionate about the program. The kids would like to launch this news as soon as possible. Joanne suggested the Tigard High student liaison report on this project as part of their quarterly report to Council. The city will also commit to running news about the project in Cityscape. Samantha said five high school students make up the core group and now they're focused on building the project base by raising money or finding sponsors to buy the trademark Neighborhood Food Project Bags and identifying Neighborhood Coordinators to oversee their own neighborhood. Coordinators will ask neighbors to be food donors and collect the food monthly to take to the High School for donation to the food bank. Cash donations are tax deductible. 6. OTHER? The next NIC meeting will take place on November 20 (Thanksgiving is 11/28 this year.) Jeff noted that the next free CERT training is coming up for anyone who is interested. Jeremy said he and his wife attended the second annual downtown street fair and he would like to see that happen twice a year, in addition to other activities centered on the downtown. 7. ADJOURN With no more items to discuss, the group adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. _ Neighborhood Involvement Committee MINUTES - 8/21/13 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-718-2475 1 wwwaigard-or.gov I Page 3 of 3 How the Tigard Food Project Works... It's a remarkably simple system, built around two main types of volunteers: 1. Neighborhood Coordinators (NCs) agree to organize a small group of their neighbors to become Food Donors.Their job generally takes a few hours a month. 2. Food Donors are neighbors who agree to give food every two months. Neighborhood Coordinators (NCs) ■ An NC's donor group can be any number of people they like: 3...10...16...or any size. • NCs decide for themselves what constitutes their"neighborhood." It can be a few houses, a whole street, or several blocks.The most important thing is for them to feel comfortable with the area they pick. If they want,they can start small and expand their neighborhoods over time. • Generally, NCs build their"neighborhoods"by knocking on doors, introducing themselves, and asking if people want to participate. It's a great way to get to know neighbors. Many NCs start out by asking friends and acquaintances who live nearby. When a Neighbor Joins • The NC gives them a reusable green Food Project bag and suggests that they buy one extra nonperishable grocery item each week when they go to the supermarket. The food is stored in the bag. (Note: Besides the obvious practical application, our FP bag is an important symbol of mutual commitment and a constant reminder of the food bank's needs). • Then every month, NCs pick up each Donor's bag of food, leave an empty one,and bring all the bags they collect to a designated drop-off point. In Tigard, it's the High School. In all cases, food bank representatives are there to receive and process it. In Tigard, reps from the Good Neighbor Center,St.Vincent dePaul and Oregon Food Bank work together. When is Pickup Day? • Our "official"pickup day is the 15t Saturday of each month. But the Food Project is set up to give NCs as much freedom as possible. If they'll be out of town on the official pickup day, or prefer to do it the week before or after,they can come up with their own date and work that out with their Food Donors. What happens on Pickup Day? • Each Food Donor puts the bag of food out by his or her front door. NCs pick up each bag, leave an empty one and a "Thank-you" card (which we supply),and take the food to the designated location. Most Needed Items: • Cereal • Hearty Soups • Cooking Oil Non-Perishable Food • Canned Meat • Canned Corn • Side Dishes • Canned Fruit • Masa • Soy Milk • Canned Tuna • Brown Rice • Canned Milk • Canned Beans • Long Grain White Rice • Texturized Vegetable Protein • Dried Beans • Plain Stewed Tomatoes • Pasta • Pinto Beans • Fruit Cocktail • Vegetables Side Dishes (Hamburger Helper, Rice-a-Rani, etc.) Especially for Seniors • Dried Fruits t • .=o *• + Ready-made Jell-0 &pudding F" • Ensure protein drinks • Low-sodium Pull-tab Soups • Low-sodium Single-Serving Meals • Low-sodium Crackers • Green Tea (regular and decal) • Canned Vegetables • Hard Candies Non-Food Items • Diapers ¢' • Toilet Paper • Toothpaste s Toothbrushes • Soap You want TIGARD to help. . . We make �� �o a�� it easy) �o Q9 Here's how: Step 1) Each week, you buy just one extra non- perishable food item when you go shopping. Step 2) Store it in a paper bag Step 3) On the 1 st Saturday of every month, a food project member will pick up the bag and bring it to the Good Neighbor Center, a local food shelter. It's that simple!!! We are a student-based,non-profit community service organization dedicated to provide food for our hungry neighbors here in Tigard.Thank you very much for your interest and willingness to support our cause! • • • • • • - • w5031