Little bit, long way away — Fundraiser to nourish education program with local roots

By Jenny Neyman

Photos courtesy of Les Nelson. Lassie Nelson, of Soldotna, and her son, Les, pose in front of a banner for Ferdinand Center for the Creative, the nonprofit education outreach program Les founded to help disadvantaged youth in the Philippines.

Redoubt Reporter

Santa flew via jet engines, rather than reindeer. He was from Soldotna, not the North Pole. The foamy white beard of his bargain St. Nick trimmings looked about as natural as square eggs. He didn’t speak the language of those coming to see him at a bazaar in Quezon City, Philippines, so he couldn’t take gift requests, much less inquire as to naughty or nice.

To Lassie and Jerald Nelson, of Soldotna, who were visiting their son, Les Nelson, and his education outreach campaign in the Philippines last month, their Santa experience wasn’t quite up to the sack-full-of-magic standard that kids in the U.S. would expect. Then again, not much that they saw in the Philippines conformed to Western world standards.

But as with a communication-challenged Santa — or a plain pair of shoes, a simple shirt, a quick meal, an alphabet drawn in shaving cream or a lesson in basic arithmetic — there can be magic in appreciating what is there, who can be helped and what can be done, rather than focusing solely on what’s still needed, lacking and insufficient.

To a kid in the Philippines, after all, Soldotna is close enough to the North Pole as to render inconsequential the difference in zip codes. Flying across the Pacific is pretty darn special, whether it’s through technology or levitating livestock. With enough smiles and laughter, “Ho ho ho” can bridge a language gap.

“It was a pretty exciting couple of hours. A lot of kids — and a lot of young adults, and even old adults  — came up and got pictures with Santa,” said Jerald Nelson, who agreed to his son’s request to play Santa at a Christmas bazaar organized by a friend, where part of the proceeds are donated to Les’ educational program, Ferdinand Center for the Creative.

Alive with action — Relay for Life raises $76,550 so far for 2012

By Jenny Neyman

Photos by Jenny Neyman, Redoubt Reporter. Belle Saldivar gives Sophie Saldivar a swing around the bandstand, while Dave Saldivar and Miriam Olivo sway to the music of Troubadour North at the Relay for Life fundraiser on Saturday at the Soldotna Sports Center.

Redoubt Reporter

Though 10-year-old Joey Workowski, of Nikiski, was wearing a purple “survivor” shirt at the Central Kenai Peninsula Relay for Life event last weekend at the Soldotna Sports Center, cancer wasn’t the first thing on his mind.

Even the worst of his worst experiences undergoing two and a half years of treatment for leukemia were superceded by matters far more attractive to the attention of a fifth-grader: There were games to play, after all, and horses to ride and bands to listen to and food to eat and the nervous excitement of being a guest speaker.

Even in that role, as a short-brown-haired, bespeckled kid in a too-big purple shirt stepping up to the mic and delivering a speech to the crowd, he wasn’t, in his head, Joey with cancer. Asking him why he was a guest speaker required a prompt from his mom, Laura Niemczyk.

“Because I was speaking to the high school at the minirelay at Nikiski High School (an event held May 23 as a fundraiser for the larger Central Peninsula Relay for Life),” Joey said. “And Jonah asked me if I wanted to be the guest speaker for the… .”

“Yes, but what kind of guest speaker are you? What are you wearing that shirt for?” Niemczyk interjected.

“Oh, because I’m a survivor guest speaker,” he said.

A participant winds up to throw a sponge at Joey Workowski, volunteering as a target in a fundraiser booth at the Relay for Life on Saturday at the Soldotna Sports Center.

In a larger sense, yes, his speech was about cancer. He gave an outline of his experience with leukemia. How, at age 4 ½, he became sick — excessively tired and not wanting to eat or walk anywhere.

“I thought he was anemic, dehydrated,” Niemczyk said. “We walked into an emergency room and took a quick little blood test and the bottom fell out of everything we planned.”

Living in Washington at the time, he was rushed to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where he began 39 months of chemotherapy treatment, with all the ups and downs, and literal pins, needles and bumps along the way.

“Some of the medicine I had to take made me hurt and stuff. My steroids, I had an allergic reaction to it and it made me really itchy,” Joey said.

“The number-one leukemia-fighting kids drug, he was mildly allergic to it. Oh yeah, that was fun,” Niemczyk said.

But though the topic was cancer, the point was something much more than that — living through it, getting past it and thanking those who helped with all aspects along the way.

“We wanted an adventure, and we weren’t about to let his cancer slow us down,” Niemczyk said of why, during Joey’s treatment, they moved from Washington to Nikiski.

They like it here, Joey said, especially the wildlife — though not the big moose when they act scary at his bus stop, he

Joey Workowski laughs in anticipation of the next toss. Workowski, a cancer survivor, was a guest speaker at this year’s Relay event.

said. And the chattery, toothy-grinned ball of energy likes life, especially since he finished chemo treatment.

“I’ve been out for two years and five months — not that I’m counting,” Joey said. “I like that I don’t have to worry about the cancer and stuff, and I can do sports. I like soccer and basketball.”

He doesn’t even mind being a public speaker.

“It’s scary at first but, normally, once I start talking I can’t really stop,” he said, as his mom gave a wide, almost eye-rolling head nod to affirm that statement.

“It’s about all the stuff I can remember about chemo, and about why I relay,” Joey said of his speech.

To Joey, he’s a kid who happened to have leukemia, and also happens to like soccer and basketball, and happens to attend Nikiski North Star Elementary School, and happens to get nervous when moose come around while he’s waiting at his bus stop. Cancer is a detail of his life, not the defining characteristic of it, and not — as his mom cries with relief while listening to him speak — the end of it.

“It’s very emotional for me,” said Niemczyk. “But I’m really proud of him, and he’s turning into a good public speaker. And we had a good outcome so we’re more than happy to share his story and help inspire others to keep fighting the fight and raise money. It makes me cry every time.”

Charmed for life — Soldotna family counts blessings from lucky boy

By Jenny Neyman

Photo by Jenny Neyman Redoubt Reporter. Tricia Friel, a physical therapy assistant, helps Carter Moore complete a puzzle at Kenai Kids Therapy in Soldotna on Monday. After a rough start to life, Carter is thriving, and his parents hope to make the community aware of the needs of kids like Carter and the organizations that can help.

Redoubt Reporter

Carter Moore’s toddler-sized glasses give his bright blue eyes a look of being permanently cast in wide-eyed surprise, an impression that’s reinforced by his near-constant curiosity and fearless exploration. It’s fitting, given the surprise he was to his family.

“He’s a double surprise. It was a surprise I got pregnant so quick, and a surprise he came so quick, too,” said Sonja Moore, of Soldotna.

Sonja and Rusty Moore’s older boys, Kade, nearly 8, and Cooper, who will turn 4 in August, were conceived through fertility treatments. Moore has had surgery for endometriosis and knew getting pregnant would be a challenge. They did get pregnant naturally once but lost the baby at about four months. Pregnancy with Kade went relatively well, although he had to have surgery at 4 months old for severe acid reflux. Moore lost another pregnancy after Kade, then Moore’s pregnancy and delivery with Cooper went completely smoothly.

With baby Cooper added to the family, life settled into a rhythm for the Moores, with Rusty working for Northern Technology Group and then Central Peninsula Hospital in information services, and Moore working as a nurse’s aide at the Peninsula Medical Center.

The Moores wanted another baby. Being fertility parents, they’d gotten used to thinking pregnancy would come when they were ready to pursue another round of treatments. Kade and Cooper were spaced four years apart, which seemed like a good schedule to continue, Moore said.

Working in part with Dr. Nels Anderson, who does fertility treatments as part of his medical practice, Moore knew nature still occasionally takes charge, even with parents who had previously needed to supplement nature with science.

Photo courtesy of Sonja Moore. Carter Moore was just 3 pounds, 11 ounces, when he was born Aug. 11, 2007 —10 weeks early. He spent the next 18 days on life support.

“I knew working there that there could be cases where a mom couldn’t get pregnant for years and years and had to do fertility. Then the next thing you know they’re back in the office saying, ‘I’m not feeling good. I don’t know what’s wrong,’ and they’re pregnant. And they say, ‘I couldn’t be. I just paid several thousand dollars for my fertility baby, and now I’m pregnant?’  I just thought I wasn’t going to be one of those moms,” Moore said.

Moore was still breast-feeding Cooper when she started feeling sick. It’s only an old wives tale that breast-feeding prevents pregnancy. Still, an old wives tale with Moore’s history of not being able to get pregnant on her own had her thinking her nausea couldn’t be from pregnancy. Until her toothbrush gave her away, that is.

“It had been so long, we’d always had problems, plus I was breast-feeding. I thought, surely it wasn’t going to happen. But one of the telltale signs was I gagged on my toothbrush. One of my friends said, ‘Wasn’t the last time you gagged on a toothbrush when you were pregnant with Cooper?’ Sure enough, I was pregnant,” she said.

With Moore’s history of every other pregnancy having problems, she was nervous with Carter, but nothing in her early pregnancy gave her cause for concern.

“I never really got too sick with him, with any of them, really. The pregnancy at the beginning for most part went fairly well,” she said.

By summer, about 27 weeks along, Moore started having severe upper abdominal pain. She was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which hadn’t happened with Kade or Cooper. The pain was something she hadn’t experienced before, either.

Carter practices his grip with the help of Tricia Friel on Monday. At 2.5 years old, Carter is overcoming his developmental delays.

“I was doubled over downstairs sobbing. It was worse than childbirth so I knew something has to be wrong,” Moore said.

She spent a week in the hospital undergoing a barrage of tests, all of which were inconclusive. After she’d been home about two weeks, she started becoming very attuned to the baby’s movement — or lack thereof. He never moved much throughout the pregnancy, but he was particularly inactive by that point. Moore tried all the tricks that are usually recommended to get babies more active — take a warmer-than-usual shower, drink orange juice, lie down on your left side. None of it worked.

The next day, while housecleaning, Moore said she just suddenly knew something was very wrong.

“It honestly sounds funny but it was like the voice of God, like, ‘You need to go to the hospital now,’” Moore said. “Rusty was outside washing the car. All of a sudden I just kind of decided it was time. He didn’t argue about it one bit. He didn’t even finish washing the car.”

At the hospital, another round of tests commenced. Carter’s heartbeat was very hard to find, and far too low in her abdomen. Her abdomen had swollen, indicating Carter wasn’t processing amniotic fluid properly. Attempts to induce fetal activity for a stress test didn’t work.

Even after all that Moore said it was a biophysical profile — a special ultrasound — that finally made the severity of the situation sink in. The tech had started the scan with the screen angled a little toward Moore. During the exam, he turned the screen so she couldn’t see it. He left the room without saying anything. Two of Moore’s friends working in obstetrics were on duty at the time. One walked into Moore’s room crying.

“She was just sobbing and said, ‘I’m sorry, this is so unprofessional of me, but there’s something really wrong.’ He wasn’t breathing anymore,” Moore said.

Blood bank, March of Dimes to the rescue

Kay Gardner works with Carter Moore to pronounce and sign colors. He is working to strengthen underdeveloped neck and mouth muscles.

Moore was airlifted to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage and Carter was delivered via an emergency Cesarean section. He was born at 8 p.m. Aug. 11, 2007 — 10 weeks early. He weighed 3 pounds, 11 ounces.

Doctors didn’t know how long he hadn’t been breathing or how extensive the damage would be to his heart, lungs and other organs. They realized Carter’s body had been rejecting his own blood — a condition known as feto-internal hemorrhage — forcing it out of his body through the umbilical cord back into Moore. That was the source of her intense abdominal pain.

Carter was on life support for 18 days, longer than even most preemies weighing a pound or two less than he did at birth. He had seven blood transfusions, eye surgery to protect against blindness and underwent a surfactant  therapy treatment, which was developed by the March of Dimes, to help his lungs function properly. He stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit at Providence for two months.

The medical staff was wonderful and Carter started to rebound, Moore said, but doctors cautioned against being too optimistic.

“He had some major heart and lung issues for a while. He didn’t have good oxygen flow for who knows how long. It was kind of a rough road for him there for a while,” Moore said. “They did brain scans and he had some minor bleeding when he was born, which cleared up on its own. And he had some extra fluid between his brain and skull. That’s a sign there could be some developmental issues. They kind of gave us the worst-case scenario — he might have cerebral palsy or seizures. There are things that definitely can be long-term problems.”

Strumming heartstrings — Musicians, schools weave a tune of support for Ivy

By Jenny Neyman

Photo courtesy of the Howland family. 14-year-old Ivy Howland is at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

Redoubt Reporter

Friday night music at Veronica’s is generally a miscellaneous affair, as open-mic nights tend to be. A parade of people flowing on and off the stage, bringing different instruments and varying styles of music to share with the transient audience.

But this Friday night was a variation from the usual variety. There were still an assortment of people, instruments and sounds involved, but all were singing the same tune, with everyone united to support one of their own musical family members — 14-year-old Ivy Howland.

Veronica’s traditional, Friday open-mic night was given over to a fundraiser for Ivy, who has been struggling with illness for the better part of a year and was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. Not only is she a community kid in need, but she’s a blossoming member of a bedrock musical family in the community, which resonates even more loudly throughout the local music scene.

“Veronica’s, there’s like a whole kind of tribe of musicians who go in there and play on a regular basis, and Ivy was one of them. She started to sing with a couple other kids and had a band that would go to Veronica’s and play,” said Matt Boyle, one of the musicians at the fundraiser.

Ivy is the daughter of John and Danette Howland, sister to younger brother, Max, and performers Devin Boyle, of the band Uglyfish, and Keeley Boyle, of The Old Believers. Her extended family includes local musicians Matt and Dave Boyle.

“It was kind of a special thing,” Matt Boyle said of the Friday night event at Veronica’s. “I don’t think anybody there just happened to be there, they came for the fundraiser and to listen to music and donate money. Especially when a kid needs help, there seems to be a lot of people who always seem to do something, to try and raise money for them, but this one has a real musical aspect to it.”

Freezing support — Winter recreation organizations regroup to stay in their games

By Jenny Neyman

Photo by Clark Fair, Redoubt Reporter. High school skiers test out new snow at Tsalteshi Trails Association’s kickoff event Friday at Skyview High School. Tsalteshi is still successful in finding funding and volunteer support, but even Tsalteshi is looking at new ways of doing business in today’s changing economic climate.

Redoubt Reporter

The Kenai Peninsula is just as much of a playground in the winter as it is in the summer, with skiing, mushing, skijoring, snowmachining and all the other activities available when temperatures drop and snow flies. Enthusiasm for all these pursuits doesn’t seem to be waning, but organizations geared to facilitate those activities are having to rethink how they organize themselves in order to keep their lines of support from freezing up.

The Kenai Peninsula’s economic landscape is changing. That affects the business community as well as all the groups, clubs, nonprofits and fundraisers that have relied on their donations. With Agrium leaving the area, Chevron downsizing and the car sales industry not being as large as it once was, for example, landing a “big fish” of charitable support in the central peninsula community isn’t as easy as it used to be. To complicate matters, as economies constrict, hardships increase, resulting in even greater need and competition for charitable support.

Recreational groups are dealing with these challenges in different ways.

T-200 blazes new routes to sponsors

Photo courtesy of Tami Murray, T-200. A musher and dog team pull away from the road in last year’s Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race. The organization has lowered donor levels in order to attract more sponsors.

The Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race is adapting by trying to attract an increased number of supporters at a lower rate, rather than relying on just a few high-dollar supporters.

“For us, financial sponsorships aren’t what they used to be. We’ve lost a few but gained a few, as well,” said Tami Murray, executive director of the annual Iditarod qualifier, in its 26th year. “It definitely has been an issue.”

The race costs about $50,000 to put on, Murray said, including the pre-race registration banquet, the post-race banquet, the cost of the race itself and the race purse, which is $25,000 this year. And the T-200 hasn’t raised its entry fee in as long as Murray can remember, she said.

“We need to raise a bit of money, but we try not to spend money. We don’t spend any if we don’t have it, and it all goes back to the race,” she said.

Baby steps — Girl’s condition improves with brain surgery

By Jenny Neyman

Photo by Jenny Neyman, Redoubt Reporter. Marcia Jacobs looks at a book of Disney fairies with her daughter, Emily, in their Soldotna home Friday. Emily suffers from Chiari malformation of the brain and had to undergo brain surgery earlier this month to relieve pressure on her brain stem. Jacobs said Emily has been doing better since they got home Oct. 13.

Redoubt Reporter

At 2 years old, Emily Jacobs can count to 14. She can name all the Disney fairies. She can tell you about the sun being up and going down. She can point out a shark — “aaah!” — and a kitty — “so cute.” She can look at a syringe and tell you it’s for medicine — “icky.”

What she can’t yet do isn’t measured in terms of cognitive or educational milestones, like counting to 20 or writing the alphabet. It’s more basic than that.

She can’t swallow thin liquids without choking. She can’t toddle down the hallway without resembling a pinball careening into the walls. She can’t quite sleep through the night without waking up in pain. She can’t look forward to a childhood without the very real possibility of needing major brain surgery.

In June, Emily was diagnosed with Chiari malformation of the brain, where space in the lower rear portion of the skull is smaller than normal. Some people live with the condition symptom-free for their entire lives. But in Emily’s case, the base of her brain is compressed and her cerebellum is putting pressure directly on the top of her brain stem. The pressure has restricted cerebrospinal fluid flow around her brain, and the excess pressure has forced a hole in her spine where the fluid is leaking out into her spinal column.

Emily has been sick almost from birth, showing signs of increased intracranial pressure that her mother, Marcia Jacobs, of Soldotna, recognized all too well. Jacobs’ first child, Anjuli, died of brain cancer in 2001 at 4 years old.

In May, Jacobs took Emily to Children’s Hospital in Seattle, where Anjuli was treated. Doctors told her Emily would need brain surgery to remove part of the base of her skull to relieve the pressure. It’s a massive, risky surgery, involving taking patches of bone from elsewhere in the skull and cauterizing the cerebellar tonsils, a portion of the cerebellum shaped like the tonsils in the neck, at the base of the brain. The risk of infection, paralysis and even death are greater the younger the patient is, so Emily’s doctors wanted to wait until she was 3 to try it. She turned 2 on June 10.

Relaying the message — Annual fundraiser steps up creativity to stamp out cancer

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

Photo courtesy of Jacki Michels. Katie Clonan, of the Sensational Sterling Superstars Relay for Life team, displays “The Bra From Hell” she made as part of the “bras for a cause” fundraiser.

Amy Parham was a little concerned the “bras for a cause” fundraiser she started with her Relay for Life team might make people a little squeamish or embarrassed.

If the teenage boys who enthusiastically helped decorate and model the undergarments were any indication, she didn’t need to worry.

“We actually had probably four young men that made bras. They were all junior high, high school age. One had real bullets all over it. He showed up at the party, had his little box of bullets and a pink bra and went to it and had a great time,” Parham said.

Her team, the Sensational Sterling Superstars, comprised of Sterling 4-H families, utilizes a variety of activities to raise money for the central peninsula Relay for Life event at Skyview High School. This is the 11th annual local relay, which supports the American Cancer Society. They had a bake sale, sold homemade fleece quilts and raffled a picnic table one of the 4-H dads made.

“It’s just anything we can do. Everybody comes to the track pretty generous, with a pocket full of money and looking for things to contribute to,” said Beth Braxling, one of the moms of the team.

Sisters, mothers, grandmas, friends — After 30 years in Kenai Catholic church, nuns accept thanks for the many roles they’ve played

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

The introduction of Sisters Joan Barina and Joyce Ross to Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Kenai in 1979 is a reflection of the sisters’ induction to Alaska itself — they had some idea of what to expect, but were unprepared for the scope of the impact it would have on them.

“I was wondering what they would do. The church was going along fine at the time,” said Eileen Bryson, who was attending the church when the sisters arrived in 1979 — in pastel pants suits, as the story goes. “It was immediately apparent they would be very helpful. They became part of the church immediately. We’re at the point now of, ‘What will we do without them?’”

Bryson was one of many parishioners and friends cycling through an open house at Our Lady of the Angels on May 9 held as a going-away party for the sisters, who are retiring and heading back to their religious orders on the East Coast after 30 years at the Kenai parish. The sisters were surrounded by evidence of just how much a part of the church they have become — photos of their mundane tasks, like mowing the lawn, on up to the more meaningful, like performing ecclesiastic services and going on mission trips; a guestbook filled with page after page of well-wishes, words of thanks and declarations of how much they will be missed; and the parishioners themselves, who have taken the sisters’ message that they are the church to heart as much as they’ve taken the sisters to heart.

“You always say the church is the people,” Barina said.

“And they’ve proved it,” Ross said. “Hopefully we’ve helped them take ownership and realize that it’s their church. We always say the changes we have seen in the church are because of people’s ideas. They followed through on what they wanted to see. I think we’re the cheerleaders, encouraging them hopefully to pitch in and help.”

Eating up resources — Risings costs challenge food bank, its clients to make ends meet

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

Harry Moore has spent 50 years contri-buting to the community.

Moore moved to the central Kenai Peninsula from Anchorage in 1952 when the Sterling Highway opened. He home- steaded on Funny River Road and spent his working years in trades that helped build brand-new Soldotna — “mechanic, road const- ruction and what not,” he said.

Since retiring, he’s facing the same dilemma many seniors are — income is fixed, but bills are not. Heating, electricity, Medicare, gas and food costs spiral upward, leaving Moore and others who once helped build communities now needing help from them.

On Nov. 19 help came from the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. Moore had a cab drop him and his power wheelchair off at the food bank just before 11 a.m., so he could sign the form for the seniors’ commodity supplemental food program. The program provides him with a slab of cheese and a prepacked box of food once a month, containing a variety of items — cereal, beans, peanut butter, powdered milk and the like.

“With me, I don’t need very much,” he said.

He’s been coming to the food bank for 10 or 15 years now, he said. He used to come in almost daily to eat lunch in the food bank’s soup kitchen, the Fireweed Diner. Now it’s more infrequently, but he doesn’t miss senior food box distribution day.

In the food bank’s records, Moore is a client, one of hundreds of seniors who get help during the month. But he’s more than a number. To his fellow Fireweed diners he’s a good lunch buddy, a sure bet for a laugh, quick with a smile, and he’s at the point in life where a good story takes precedence over a sip of coffee or spoonful of soup. To food bank staff, he’s also a supporter. He makes items for the food bank’s annual auction fundraiser, and brings a pan of homemade, sugar-free fudge that has become legendary in the building.

“I think there’s a lot of people in the community they do a lot of services for, mainly the elderly and what not, you know,” Moore said of the food bank. “It’s real important. They do a lot of services for the community. That’s why I make some stuff for the auction.”

Being both a contributor and consumer may be the attitude to take for seniors who find it difficult to go from taking care of themselves and others to needing help making ends meet.

“I don’t know what they think, but they probably think they’re getting something for nothing. I don’t think that’s the case. I think everybody contributes something to the community,” he said.

Senior food boxes are distributed a few days a month. Nov. 19 was the first day of distribution this month, which resulted in a line of seniors waiting to sign the eligibility form and pick up their food.

But the wait was short and the mood amiable, with many seniors making an afternoon of the errand by stopping for a hearty, well-balanced lunch and conversation in the Fireweed Diner, which serves meals on a donation basis.

“The lunch is nice, too. It gives you a chance to get out at noon,” said Phyllis Sather, of Soldotna.

Sather has been getting senior food boxes for the last three or four months, she said. Heating, electricity, gas and food bills have been going up.

“Oh yeah, every time you go to the store it seems like it goes up,” she said.

There isn’t a large amount of food in the boxes, but it helps, she said. A little bit goes a long way, especially when it can be difficult to seek help in the first place.

“I never signed up for anything like this before,” she said.

Evelyn Brandt, of Soldotna, was pragmatic about the food program.

“I find a use for most of it. If I don’t, I bring it back,” she said. “You get a lot of beans. You can do a lot of things with beans. It helps you know what you have to buy and what you don’t have to buy.”

Brandt has lived in the area off and on since 1969, raising her kids here and working a variety of jobs, including at the old Soldotna Drug Store and as a travel agent. She’s been getting senior boxes for the last three years and said anyone who’s eligible should take advantage of the program.

“If it’s pride that keeps them away, they better think about it. They’ll be starving,” she said.

The food bank has seen an increase in people seeking services, paralleling rising food, gas, heat, electricity, health care and other costs, said Linda Swarner, executive director of the food bank.

Last year the food bank gave senior food boxes to an average of 290 people a month. This year it’s 321. The Fireweed Diner served an average of 1,699 meals a month last year, compared to 1,981 this year. The food bank also gives out emergency food boxes to low-income households once a month and distributes perishable items — like yogurt, bread and milk. The monthly average of households getting emergency food boxes this year is 549, up from 510 last year, and the monthly average of people picking up perishable items is 532 this year, compared to 494 last year.

Eligibility for food bank programs is dependant on income. Seniors have an income limit of $22,750 for a two-person household, and families eligible for emergency food boxes can make $32,375 for a two-person household. There is some minimal paperwork to be filled out for food boxes, but it all basically operates on the honor system. If someone says they need help, the food bank believes them.

The problem is there may not be enough food to help everyone who needs it. Rising bills means a rising number of food bank clients, but it also means fewer donations. Food for the diner, food boxes and other services the food bank provides — like giving food to senior centers to use to cook lunch — come from grocery stores and donations from the public. The food bank is getting school groups and others coming in to volunteer service with the holidays approaching, but the amount of donated food is not as high as it’s been in past years.

Swarner said the food bank has given out 10,000 more pounds of food on average each month than they’ve taken in. Food drives in November and December are usually a big boost to the food bank, especially in providing holiday food boxes for families.
“It looks like our food drives are going to be a lot less, just the way the economy is,” Swarner said.

Last year was the first that the food bank didn’t have enough food to meet holiday needs. Monetary donations from the business community allow
ed the food bank to go buy turkeys from grocery stores to give to people. This year the state is chipping in $6,000 to be shared between the Fairbanks, Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula food banks to buy food to give out for the holidays, Swarner said.

And she’s still hopeful for an increase in donations.

“We just received three turkeys, so you just pray that somebody’s going to keep coming through the door,” Swarner said. “We have a very generous community. It’s just going to be tough, though.”

Eating up resources — Risings costs challenge food bank, its clients to make ends meet

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

Harry Moore has spent 50 years contri-buting to the community.

Moore moved to the central Kenai Peninsula from Anchorage in 1952 when the Sterling Highway opened. He home- steaded on Funny River Road and spent his working years in trades that helped build brand-new Soldotna — “mechanic, road const- ruction and what not,” he said.

Since retiring, he’s facing the same dilemma many seniors are — income is fixed, but bills are not. Heating, electricity, Medicare, gas and food costs spiral upward, leaving Moore and others who once helped build communities now needing help from them.

On Nov. 19 help came from the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. Moore had a cab drop him and his power wheelchair off at the food bank just before 11 a.m., so he could sign the form for the seniors’ commodity supplemental food program. The program provides him with a slab of cheese and a prepacked box of food once a month, containing a variety of items — cereal, beans, peanut butter, powdered milk and the like.

“With me, I don’t need very much,” he said.

He’s been coming to the food bank for 10 or 15 years now, he said. He used to come in almost daily to eat lunch in the food bank’s soup kitchen, the Fireweed Diner. Now it’s more infrequently, but he doesn’t miss senior food box distribution day.

In the food bank’s records, Moore is a client, one of hundreds of seniors who get help during the month. But he’s more than a number. To his fellow Fireweed diners he’s a good lunch buddy, a sure bet for a laugh, quick with a smile, and he’s at the point in life where a good story takes precedence over a sip of coffee or spoonful of soup. To food bank staff, he’s also a supporter. He makes items for the food bank’s annual auction fundraiser, and brings a pan of homemade, sugar-free fudge that has become legendary in the building.

“I think there’s a lot of people in the community they do a lot of services for, mainly the elderly and what not, you know,” Moore said of the food bank. “It’s real important. They do a lot of services for the community. That’s why I make some stuff for the auction.”

Being both a contributor and consumer may be the attitude to take for seniors who find it difficult to go from taking care of themselves and others to needing help making ends meet.

“I don’t know what they think, but they probably think they’re getting something for nothing. I don’t think that’s the case. I think everybody contributes something to the community,” he said.

Senior food boxes are distributed a few days a month. Nov. 19 was the first day of distribution this month, which resulted in a line of seniors waiting to sign the eligibility form and pick up their food.

But the wait was short and the mood amiable, with many seniors making an afternoon of the errand by stopping for a hearty, well-balanced lunch and conversation in the Fireweed Diner, which serves meals on a donation basis.

“The lunch is nice, too. It gives you a chance to get out at noon,” said Phyllis Sather, of Soldotna.

Sather has been getting senior food boxes for the last three or four months, she said. Heating, electricity, gas and food bills have been going up.

“Oh yeah, every time you go to the store it seems like it goes up,” she said.

There isn’t a large amount of food in the boxes, but it helps, she said. A little bit goes a long way, especially when it can be difficult to seek help in the first place.

“I never signed up for anything like this before,” she said.

Evelyn Brandt, of Soldotna, was pragmatic about the food program.

“I find a use for most of it. If I don’t, I bring it back,” she said. “You get a lot of beans. You can do a lot of things with beans. It helps you know what you have to buy and what you don’t have to buy.”

Brandt has lived in the area off and on since 1969, raising her kids here and working a variety of jobs, including at the old Soldotna Drug Store and as a travel agent. She’s been getting senior boxes for the last three years and said anyone who’s eligible should take advantage of the program.

“If it’s pride that keeps them away, they better think about it. They’ll be starving,” she said.

The food bank has seen an increase in people seeking services, paralleling rising food, gas, heat, electricity, health care and other costs, said Linda Swarner, executive director of the food bank.

Last year the food bank gave senior food boxes to an average of 290 people a month. This year it’s 321. The Fireweed Diner served an average of 1,699 meals a month last year, compared to 1,981 this year. The food bank also gives out emergency food boxes to low-income households once a month and distributes perishable items — like yogurt, bread and milk. The monthly average of households getting emergency food boxes this year is 549, up from 510 last year, and the monthly average of people picking up perishable items is 532 this year, compared to 494 last year.

Eligibility for food bank programs is dependant on income. Seniors have an income limit of $22,750 for a two-person household, and families eligible for emergency food boxes can make $32,375 for a two-person household. There is some minimal paperwork to be filled out for food boxes, but it all basically operates on the honor system. If someone says they need help, the food bank believes them.

The problem is there may not be enough food to help everyone who needs it. Rising bills means a rising number of food bank clients, but it also means fewer donations. Food for the diner, food boxes and other services the food bank provides — like giving food to senior centers to use to cook lunch — come from grocery stores and donations from the public. The food bank is getting school groups and others coming in to volunteer service with the holidays approaching, but the amount of donated food is not as high as it’s been in past years.

Swarner said the food bank has given out 10,000 more pounds of food on average each month than they’ve taken in. Food drives in November and December are usually a big boost to the food bank, especially in providing holiday food boxes for families.
“It looks like our food drives are going to be a lot less, just the way the economy is,” Swarner said.

Last year was the first that the food bank didn’t have enough food to meet holiday needs. Monetary donations from the business community allowed the food bank to go buy turkeys from grocery stores to give to people. This year the state is chipping in $6,000 to be shared between the Fairbanks, Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula food banks to buy food to give out for the holidays, Swarner said.

And she’s still hopeful for an increase in donations.

“We just received three turkeys, so you just pray that somebody’s going to keep coming through the door,” Swarner said. “We have a very generous community. It’s just going to be tough, though.”

Eating up resources — Risings costs challenge food bank, its clients to make ends meet

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

Harry Moore has spent 50 years contri-buting to the community.

Moore moved to the central Kenai Peninsula from Anchorage in 1952 when the Sterling Highway opened. He home- steaded on Funny River Road and spent his working years in trades that helped build brand-new Soldotna — “mechanic, road const- ruction and what not,” he said.

Since retiring, he’s facing the same dilemma many seniors are — income is fixed, but bills are not. Heating, electricity, Medicare, gas and food costs spiral upward, leaving Moore and others who once helped build communities now needing help from them.

On Nov. 19 help came from the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. Moore had a cab drop him and his power wheelchair off at the food bank just before 11 a.m., so he could sign the form for the seniors’ commodity supplemental food program. The program provides him with a slab of cheese and a prepacked box of food once a month, containing a variety of items — cereal, beans, peanut butter, powdered milk and the like.

“With me, I don’t need very much,” he said.

He’s been coming to the food bank for 10 or 15 years now, he said. He used to come in almost daily to eat lunch in the food bank’s soup kitchen, the Fireweed Diner. Now it’s more infrequently, but he doesn’t miss senior food box distribution day.

In the food bank’s records, Moore is a client, one of hundreds of seniors who get help during the month. But he’s more than a number. To his fellow Fireweed diners he’s a good lunch buddy, a sure bet for a laugh, quick with a smile, and he’s at the point in life where a good story takes precedence over a sip of coffee or spoonful of soup. To food bank staff, he’s also a supporter. He makes items for the food bank’s annual auction fundraiser, and brings a pan of homemade, sugar-free fudge that has become legendary in the building.

“I think there’s a lot of people in the community they do a lot of services for, mainly the elderly and what not, you know,” Moore said of the food bank. “It’s real important. They do a lot of services for the community. That’s why I make some stuff for the auction.”

Being both a contributor and consumer may be the attitude to take for seniors who find it difficult to go from taking care of themselves and others to needing help making ends meet.

“I don’t know what they think, but they probably think they’re getting something for nothing. I don’t think that’s the case. I think everybody contributes something to the community,” he said.

Senior food boxes are distributed a few days a month. Nov. 19 was the first day of distribution this month, which resulted in a line of seniors waiting to sign the eligibility form and pick up their food.

But the wait was short and the mood amiable, with many seniors making an afternoon of the errand by stopping for a hearty, well-balanced lunch and conversation in the Fireweed Diner, which serves meals on a donation basis.

“The lunch is nice, too. It gives you a chance to get out at noon,” said Phyllis Sather, of Soldotna.

Sather has been getting senior food boxes for the last three or four months, she said. Heating, electricity, gas and food bills have been going up.

“Oh yeah, every time you go to the store it seems like it goes up,” she said.

There isn’t a large amount of food in the boxes, but it helps, she said. A little bit goes a long way, especially when it can be difficult to seek help in the first place.

“I never signed up for anything like this before,” she said.

Evelyn Brandt, of Soldotna, was pragmatic about the food program.

“I find a use for most of it. If I don’t, I bring it back,” she said. “You get a lot of beans. You can do a lot of things with beans. It helps you know what you have to buy and what you don’t have to buy.”

Brandt has lived in the area off and on since 1969, raising her kids here and working a variety of jobs, including at the old Soldotna Drug Store and as a travel agent. She’s been getting senior boxes for the last three years and said anyone who’s eligible should take advantage of the program.

“If it’s pride that keeps them away, they better think about it. They’ll be starving,” she said.

The food bank has seen an increase in people seeking services, paralleling rising food, gas, heat, electricity, health care and other costs, said Linda Swarner, executive director of the food bank.

Last year the food bank gave senior food boxes to an average of 290 people a month. This year it’s 321. The Fireweed Diner served an average of 1,699 meals a month last year, compared to 1,981 this year. The food bank also gives out emergency food boxes to low-income households once a month and distributes perishable items — like yogurt, bread and milk. The monthly average of households getting emergency food boxes this year is 549, up from 510 last year, and the monthly average of people picking up perishable items is 532 this year, compared to 494 last year.

Eligibility for food bank programs is dependant on income. Seniors have an income limit of $22,750 for a two-person household, and families eligible for emergency food boxes can make $32,375 for a two-person household. There is some minimal paperwork to be filled out for food boxes, but it all basically operates on the honor system. If someone says they need help, the food bank believes them.

The problem is there may not be enough food to help everyone who needs it. Rising bills means a rising number of food bank clients, but it also means fewer donations. Food for the diner, food boxes and other services the food bank provides — like giving food to senior centers to use to cook lunch — come from grocery stores and donations from the public. The food bank is getting school groups and others coming in to volunteer service with the holidays approaching, but the amount of donated food is not as high as it’s been in past years.

Swarner said the food bank has given out 10,000 more pounds of food on average each month than they’ve taken in. Food drives in November and December are usually a big boost to the food bank, especially in providing holiday food boxes for families.
“It looks like our food drives are going to be a lot less, just the way the economy is,” Swarner said.

Last year was the first that the food bank didn’t have enough food to meet holiday needs. Monetary donations from the business community allow
ed the food bank to go buy turkeys from grocery stores to give to people. This year the state is chipping in $6,000 to be shared between the Fairbanks, Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula food banks to buy food to give out for the holidays, Swarner said.

And she’s still hopeful for an increase in donations.

“We just received three turkeys, so you just pray that somebody’s going to keep coming through the door,” Swarner said. “We have a very generous community. It’s just going to be tough, though.”

Good luck in store — Prize winner passes thanks on to charity

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

An ivory statue meant to reward a lucky grand prize winner in a drawing held by a new local business will now pass its charm onto a lucky bidder at a fundraiser event for Planned Parenthood.

Carol Percival, co-owner of Tikahtnu Gallery and Gifts in Soldotna, gave away a Billiken figure carved out of mammoth ivory as the top prize in a drawing held to celebrate the store’s grand opening a month ago.

A Billiken is a jovial, bare-chested, usually somewhat portly figure with elf-like ears and a pointed head that’s thought to bring the owner good luck. Florence Pretz, a Missouri art teacher and illustrator, patented the design in 1908. Manufacturing of the figures began in 1909, and they were apparently sold as a publicity stunt for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. That may be how carvers in the Nome region came to incorporate the figure into their designs.

RoseMary Peterson won the statue in Tikahtnu’s drawing, but she didn’t have a place to put it in her home off Kalifornsky Beach Road, so she decided to donate it to Planned Parenthood in Soldotna for the organization to use in its auction fundraiser dinner Saturday.

“I just have no place to display it, and I thought that it would be a good cause,” Peterson said. “I used them (Planned Parenthood) before and thought it would be a good way to give them something back.”

Peterson said Planned Parenthood helped her get a mammogram when she couldn’t afford it.

Percival was happy for the figure to go to a good cause, even if it’s taking a roundabout way to get there.

“Now she’s passing on her good luck. I had a lot of admiration for her. So many of us would have just taken it home and said, ‘Thank you very much,’” Percival said.

“I hate to see him go, he’s been one of my favorites,” she said.

“He is extremely cute,” said Autumn Leach with Planned Parenthood when she stopped by the store Monday to pick up the statue.

The Billiken will be raffled off at the organization’s fundraiser dinner at 7 p.m. Saturday at The Crossing in Soldotna. The theme is “Food from around the world.” Only 80 tickets will be sold, 50 of which were already spoken for by Monday. Tickets are $40 per person or $70 per couple. Call Jackie or Jen at 262-2622 for more information or to buy a ticket.

Peterson had been planning on presenting the good-luck Billiken to Planned Parenthood herself, but was sick with the flu all weekend and couldn’t make it Monday.

“I probably should have hung onto it. Oh well, he’ll bring me good luck long distance,” she said.

Percival, a retired educator, opened Tikahtnu Gallery and Gifts with her daughters, Tara and Amber Lathrop. Tikahtnu, which is a Dena’ina word for Cook Inlet, sells scrubs for medical professionals, and almost everything else is handcrafted artwork and crafts made in Alaska.

“I have always wanted to do this,” Percival said. “I love these Alaska arts and I knew a lot of arts people and crafters who are very talented and thought it would be a nice idea to open a gift store.”

Many of the items the store sells are made by people on the central Kenai Peninsula, including handmade jewelry by Mindy Chamberlin of Sterling, Loraine Larsen of Kasilof and Laurie Cleary of the Kenai area.

Percival contacted the artists she knew and advertised for more artwork to get inventory for the store, and she approached craftspeople at the weekly summer markets.

“I thought, ‘Well, what do they do with all their wonderful goods during the winter?’ Maybe I can suggest to help them out in the winter,” she said.

She has work representative from art traditions across Alaska, as well as children’s toys, journals, greeting cards, hats and purses, and is on the lookout for more items.

“I’m constantly trying to increase our inventory with more variety, but definitely this is the place to buy your made-in-Alaska gifts to send Outside,” she said.

That’s been one of the biggest hits with the store so far, that almost everything sold is made in the state, she said.

“I am so pleased with the response,” Percival said. “People come in and say, ‘Oh, this is a nice store.’ Or I tell them it’s all made in Alaska and they say, ‘Oh, thank you for doing that.’ So many people are tired of buying things made in China, so people’s response has been wonderful.”

Percival put out comment cards to get shoppers’ input on what they’d like to see in the store.

“I’m really interested in it being something new and different for the local people,” she said. “… Considering the economy and the time of year, it’s going well. It’s going to take time for the communities to know we’re here.”

Percival created a store she likes to be in, and hopes others will like to be there, as well.

“I like to surround myself with this kind of thing. It makes me feel warm,” she said. “I just admire these people so much.”