May 2009
THE MAN BEHIND THE APRON
By Terri Conlin
Mike Shiffer from the Tualatin School House Pantry
Waiting to interview the President of the Board at the Tualatin School House Pantry, I observe a man sitting behind a dilapidated desk wearing a bright red apron and checking in a mom with two young children in tow. He smiles, holding out a shiny package of Batman fruit snacks, and the boy’s face lights up from behind his mother. She needs shoes for her boys. He offers directions to a clothing closet, then pairs her with a volunteer to shop for food. He directs a young man sitting at a nearby computer to locate information online and calls the next customer. This woman needs food for her disabled 87-year-old mother living with her. A mom and daughter from Jesuit arrive for a family work project and begin dividing large bags of sugar. Next he checks a utility bill for established residency and explains to three burly men the food pantry’s code of conduct, “Being a good citizen while you’re here benefits all served.” Two teens arrive to fulfill court appointed community service hours. They sign in and begin sorting bulk bags of beans. A seasoned teenage volunteer asks for barrels to collect food at local grocery stores and seamlessly takes over the intake process. Finally with a slight break in the hustle of activity, I meet Mike Shiffer, founder and Board President, as he emerges from behind the desk. Mondays are his day for hands-on coordinating of the School House Pantry.
He is proud papa to a 100% volunteer organization providing food to hungry families once a month. In February 2009, over 500 families were served, but his customers receive so much more than food. Mike graciously dispenses dignity, mercy, compassion and truth to all who walk through the door. Just as I couldn’t tell the President of the Board from any other volunteer, you won’t discern visitor from volunteer from client by Mike’s interaction with them. He is living Matthew 25:40. Mike and the board have gathered together a diverse network of support from the city of Tualatin, local churches, civic clubs, businesses, schools and individuals to serve the hungry in Washington County.
The basement of Tualatin Elementary School was first home to the Pantry and inspired its name. When city officials condemned the building, the School House Pantry moved into temporary housing on school property. With that lease expiring, the pantry needs a new place to call home. Behind the scenes, Rolling Hills Community Church was one of the many churches supporting the Tualatin School House Pantry with food drives and volunteers. A year ago, Rolling Hills came forward with two blessings: a large shopping spree filling empty shelves, and volunteers extending hours into one evening per week to better serve the community. The partnership has grown with an invitation to move the Pantry to Rolling Hills Community Church. The church has unfinished space in the daylight basement and the Pantry needs a new home. Coming together onsite gives Rolling Hills a thrilling opportunity to serve far beyond its congregation in community with other partners while continuing the sterling legacy of the Tualatin School House Pantry.
I walked away from my visit inspired by the man behind the apron, laughing at the thought that he would introduce me to the president once he arrived! We at Rolling Hills have been learning to reach out and touch the local community with our service and our faith. Now we throw open our doors in warm welcome and invite the community into our home. Open your hearts to Mike Shiffer, the Tualatin School House Pantry board members, volunteers and clients from all denominations and walks of life and a varied family of partners united in one common purpose, to feed the hungry.©
Please pray for:
Timely approval of building permits
Smooth transition for both volunteers and clients
Logistics of moving day (moving is hard work!)
Warm welcome to all visiting Rolling Hills for the first time
Maintaining diverse family of supporters
May 2009
A Seed Planted Long Ago Keeps on Blooming
By Cornelia Seigneur
She grew up with a father who could grow anything in their garden.
“When my dad got home from work he was always in the yard and I was right there with him, with my little shovel ready to work, and I followed him around in the garden. He had a little shadow.”
She has not stopped playing in the dirt. Eventually, she became a master gardener, which means she took lots and lots of classes on gardening and learned a little bit about designing a garden. Part of keeping up the certificate to stay a master gardener was volunteering 35 hours a year in various public gardens like the Rhododendron Garden or at nurseries.
“When I first started, it was 70 hours. I would sit at nurseries and answer questions and that was hard. Once a man asked me what kind of flower the blue flower at the corner of Flavel and another street was, and I did not know, and the man was angry with me.”
“When I was really active, I did a garden at church and grew vegetables near the Swamp and offered classes for little kids, ages 4 to 7. We had them planting things and we had a day where we focused on Good Bugs-Bad Bugs. The children were very dirty when their parents picked them up. All but one boy who would not get dirty.”
Through life’s transitions this past year, she hung up her master gardening gloves.
But, when Transitional Youth needed help getting a rural residential facility home called Royal Ridges in Washington ready for youth to move into, this garden enthusiast got her gloves back on. It is the mission of Transitional Youth to support homeless youth in Portland - known for its high homeless youth population - by assisting with housing, outreach and life skills with the ultimate goal of reducing youth homelessness. Royal Ridges is the newest venture where youth have the opportunity to live in a rural residential facility to help them detox from street life.
“There is a large flower bed that is there in very poor shape where this ex-hot tub was and hopefully we can make this into a little pond. It will be neat. I want to add a birch tree and Oregon grape and other things native to the area.”
So far, she has laid out a design of the front of the house, where the driveway is and where the deck is. There is no way to get to the deck without a path, so that needs to be added.
“I want to make it look like it is a house that is staying. So the youth feel like they are in a home.”
She is enjoying doing the research for the landscape design. She has been online checking plants out and perusing through her gardening books to make sure the plants she wants to use will work. She has visited several nurseries asking about what new plants will thrive in the climate.
“I am just delighted I can help in this small way for Transitional Youth. God has given me an opportunity.”
“One of the things Gary Gorsuch told me, is that some of these kids have never had to get up at a certain time and they’ve never worked. They have been in certain foster care homes so many times. There was one girl who has been in more foster care homes than she was old.”
This former master gardener is helping sow the seeds of beauty in others that were planted into her heart by her father so long ago.
What is her favorite plant?
“Spring Bouquet Viburnum. It starts blooming at the end of December. It has white and pinkish white flowers. I like it because it blooms when most other things are not blooming.”
“And, there is a new variety of Spring Bouquet Viburnum called Spirit. I had never heard of Spirit and I am thrilled about using it at Royal Ridges.”
“It seems fitting. There is going to be Spirit out there.”
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Visit Transitional Youth’s website at: http://www.transitionalyouth.org/
Visit Cornelia’s blog at www.corneliaseigneur.com
May 2009
“Crystal Peaks: It’s like Holy Ground”
By Cornelia Seigneur
Jenni and one of the horses at Crystal Peaks Ranch
Jenni is scurrying about like a mother hen, checking in on the 52 other volunteers helping ready Crystal Peaks for the spring and summer. She wants to make sure everyone knows where they need to be.
Some of the helpers on this one-day mission trip are planting purple and yellow and blue and white pansies into planters that line the drive into the ranch. Others are spreading large bark chips on the dusty ground. Another group is digging into a corral area placing wooden beams along the border. Still others are staining the wooden fences where horses roam.
The Snowcapped mountain range beams in the distance.
Jenni stops to talk to Kim Meeder, founder with her husband in 1995 of Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch which rescues horses and children. Jenni and Kim are like old friends. They met through Jenni’s mother about 15 years ago.
Says Jenni, “My mom and Kim’s husband signed up for a ski conditioning class taught by Kim who was a personal trainer, and my mom called after the first class and said, ‘I met a girl just like you. She’s got long hair, she’s really athletic, she likes horses, and she’s into that Jesus thing.’ And I thought, ‘How does a girl share Christ in 45 minutes in an athletic class in a natural way and not be offensive’? I wanted to meet Kim right away.”
Jenni worked out with Kim several times and watched Kim interact with her mom.
“And I would ask Mom, ‘What’s going on with Troy and Kim?’ and Kim would ask Mom, ‘What’s going on with Jenni and Mark?’ At the time, we were adopting all these kids.”
But not till Jenni’s mom passed away did the friendship with Kim really blossom.
About that time, Mark, Jenni’s husband, was looking for short term mission projects for the church to participate in, and Jenni told Mark to look into helping at Crystal Peaks.
“And he said ‘You do it.’”
And she did. The first trip -- and the start of an ongoing partnership with the ranch -- was on May 1, 2004.
“I asked four women to go with me on that day. We drove the church van the night before, staying at my in-laws place at Black Butte, and we worked the entire next day at the ranch.”
The next work day that Rolling Hills would participate in drew 30 volunteers.
Then 70. It was so popular they realized they had to do quieter teams for a while.
Jenni helped bring Kim Meeder to women’s ministry events at Rolling Hills, including as keynote speaker at the women’s retreat in 2008.
Over the past five years, Jenni has helped lead 14 volunteer trips to the ranch, with the most recent one in April of 2009 where 53 people left at 6 AM on a lazy Saturday morning to drive three hours to work on the ranch. And eat the most amazing barbecued ribs and steak for lunch.
Jenni says that over 1000 people have been touched by the ranch; either by reading Kim’s books or by hearing her speak at women’s ministry events. “We’ve taken over 200 people on 14 trips and many of those people are repeats.”
Jenni knows why people come back. “It is like heaven on earth. There is a line in the video about Crystal Peaks that says the ranch is like a greenhouse; things come broken and they just grow here. Kids, people, horses, men, women, children.”
“It’s like holy ground. . . the mountains, the aspen trees that make beautiful noises when they move. . . you are just in the presence of God when you are there.”
For more information on Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch, visit www.crystalpeaksyouthranch.org
Visit Cornelia Seigneur’s WriterMomMusings blog at www.corneliaseigneur.com