Max
12-13-2002, 02:31 PM
Making a Difference
12/12/02
Eagle Scout slides into idea to get the disabled moving
From Our Advertiser
TIGARD -- Gareth Fitzpatrick's mother is a nurse, so she hears a lot about patients' needs. But when he heard that many brain or spinal cord injury patients needed something he could provide, he set to work.
Gareth, a 16-year-old junior at Tigard High School, made 26 sliding boards for Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital as his Eagle Scout project. The Troop 855 Scout wanted to help disabled people have a little more independence, said Tracey Barnett, a hospital spokeswoman.
Legacy is one of many hospitals with a need for the sliding boards and other equipment that help disabled people move from wheelchairs to cars to beds.
After about 100 volunteer hours during many months, Gareth delivered 26 handmade boards to Good Sam's Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon on Dec. 2.
The 24-inch-by-8-inch boards are already in use, said Gareth's father, Jerry Fitzpatrick. His mother, Sally, is a rehabilitation nurse at the hospital.
"Apparently they'd been in short supply for a very long time," Jerry Fitzpatrick said. "Now they have one for every room, as well as extras."
Staff also use the boards to train family members of patients in helping their loved ones around when they go home. The boards are made of maple, which was donated to Gareth anonymously.
Gareth consulted with several nurses and physical therapists while making the boards. He was assisted by 20 other Boy Scouts and troop leaders.
NEWBERG -- A George Fox University social work class has raised 1,400 pounds of food for those in need this holiday season.
The class effort, which contributed to the Newberg-based Friends in Service to Humanity, followed a presentation by 23-year-old junior Kelly Mills on the increasing need for food in Newberg and Dundee.
Mills said she was inspired to do the project in part by her grandfather, Lester Beecroft, a longtime volunteer for FISH.
The other seven students in Sherrie Schulke's "Introduction to Social Work" class loved the idea and fueled a campus food drive. The class placed food boxes in campus housing and in the student union building. The boxes were immediately filled.
FISH provides food for about 250 families a month. During the holidays, it serves about 500 families with a holiday food box.
The class also held a Hunger Awareness Day on Nov. 11, staffing an information booth in the student union building.
For information about FISH, call 503-538-4444. -- Kate Taylor Making a Difference: 503-294-5986; southwest@news.oregonian.com
Copyright 2002 Oregon Live. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.oregonlive.com/metrosouthwest/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/metro_southwest_news/1039265887247692.xml
12/12/02
Eagle Scout slides into idea to get the disabled moving
From Our Advertiser
TIGARD -- Gareth Fitzpatrick's mother is a nurse, so she hears a lot about patients' needs. But when he heard that many brain or spinal cord injury patients needed something he could provide, he set to work.
Gareth, a 16-year-old junior at Tigard High School, made 26 sliding boards for Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital as his Eagle Scout project. The Troop 855 Scout wanted to help disabled people have a little more independence, said Tracey Barnett, a hospital spokeswoman.
Legacy is one of many hospitals with a need for the sliding boards and other equipment that help disabled people move from wheelchairs to cars to beds.
After about 100 volunteer hours during many months, Gareth delivered 26 handmade boards to Good Sam's Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon on Dec. 2.
The 24-inch-by-8-inch boards are already in use, said Gareth's father, Jerry Fitzpatrick. His mother, Sally, is a rehabilitation nurse at the hospital.
"Apparently they'd been in short supply for a very long time," Jerry Fitzpatrick said. "Now they have one for every room, as well as extras."
Staff also use the boards to train family members of patients in helping their loved ones around when they go home. The boards are made of maple, which was donated to Gareth anonymously.
Gareth consulted with several nurses and physical therapists while making the boards. He was assisted by 20 other Boy Scouts and troop leaders.
NEWBERG -- A George Fox University social work class has raised 1,400 pounds of food for those in need this holiday season.
The class effort, which contributed to the Newberg-based Friends in Service to Humanity, followed a presentation by 23-year-old junior Kelly Mills on the increasing need for food in Newberg and Dundee.
Mills said she was inspired to do the project in part by her grandfather, Lester Beecroft, a longtime volunteer for FISH.
The other seven students in Sherrie Schulke's "Introduction to Social Work" class loved the idea and fueled a campus food drive. The class placed food boxes in campus housing and in the student union building. The boxes were immediately filled.
FISH provides food for about 250 families a month. During the holidays, it serves about 500 families with a holiday food box.
The class also held a Hunger Awareness Day on Nov. 11, staffing an information booth in the student union building.
For information about FISH, call 503-538-4444. -- Kate Taylor Making a Difference: 503-294-5986; southwest@news.oregonian.com
Copyright 2002 Oregon Live. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.oregonlive.com/metrosouthwest/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/metro_southwest_news/1039265887247692.xml