CONTENTS 1/3/2021
If You’re New
After The Windstorm
Please Write!
What You Did Today
Today’s Ingredients
Restaurant Pans
Smart Food Run?
Boxes For Delivering
Delivery
2020 Magazines Available For Pickup
Who Works On Tube Radios From The 50’S?
Radio Free Fl!p: There But For Fortune
IF YOU’RE NEW
If you’re new to this list (there are quite a few of you lately) you can click on the link to look at earlier posts. This list started as two lists, one for my beloved Columbia Neighborhood in Bellingham WA. The other was focused on local folk music, though not exclusively. At the beginning of the pandemic I shifted to covering that, and combined my lists onto a single blog. And then this autumn, I got involved in supporting the encampment of local citizens without shelter on the lawn around city hall. I did outreach support for unhoused neighbors last winter, but at that time there were volunteers to keep emergency shelters open. The need was urgent, but less extreme.
AFTER THE WINDSTORM
Camp after a rough Saturday windstorm needs:
* Wood deliveries before the next deep cold snap.
* Waterproof Ground insulation :
* Yoga mats ( ask for old used ones from yoga studio)
* or Camping pads – closed cell (no open cell foam as they absorb rain water. “ASR Closed Cell Reflective Camping Pad” looks particularly durable. Sears?)
* Tent stakes. Preferably 12” steel. But anything helps.
* Gloves men’s & womans
* Volunteer time to help clean up and help set up flattened tents and tarps ( many tent poles broke during windstorm. )
* plastic rain ponchos
* waterproof boots
* non addictive pain medication
* neck warmers that can double as face covers
PLEASE WRITE!
Who we are is not what we say, but what we do.
City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org
The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us
WHAT YOU DID TODAY
Folks on this list delivered a propane BBQ grill to SwiftHaven. The tiny homes have not yet arrived and the worker/residents camping there are living pretty rough. They are very grateful to have a second grill to huddle around to get warm. The same courier that took the grill over also delivered three boxes of donated ingredients and canned meals to the kitchen tent.
A list member delivered a truckload of firewood to City Hall. (They still need more, of course.) Four more tents were delivered here at our house for outreach use, which makes over a dozen total. I was just now able to order 8 neck warmer/gaiters/masks to arrive Wednesday. More warm socks were dropped off here. And a bag of tent stakes. And a lovely box of home-made gluten-free peanut-butter cookies in goodie bags.
A volunteer cooked for five hours this afternoon to deliver a hot meal to the quarantine site, but the site turns out not to accept donated food. So she took her soup to city hall, where it was very welcome and needed. I’d love to learn what the rules are at the quarantine motel. Perhaps we could deliver canned food, like chili. Some residents there are reporting not getting enough food from their meal program. Does anyone know the ropes?
Volunteers are still desperately needed for tent set up and repair after the windstorm. This involves being around unmasked campers, so volunteers are very difficult to find. This is a hard situation!
TODAY’S INGREDIENTS
Lots of lentils, lots of rice, still got pasta. Canned tuna. Some canned chicken. Got two 5# bags of shredded cheddar. I’ve got a big tub of curry paste. 30# or so of onions. Half a case of chopped tomatoes. 20 dozen eggs or so. Chicken, & Beef soup base. One jar of Pesto. 3# of real Butter. Does any of that sound inspiring? We have soup pots, restaurant pans, paper soup cups and lids, dinner boxes, and bakery bags. Sign up on the MealTrain and come pick up some goodies. Double up with a buddy to sign up if you want to cook for fewer than 50. Or sign up for a 20 person snack. Write the date on each portion lid.
https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke
RESTAURANT PANS
I can’t remember who has the restaurant pans at the moment. Let me know. I’ve gotta start writing those down. Soup pots, we have so many that it’s just a constant flow, but we only have 3 restaurant pans. It’s good to get them back as soon as you can after you’re finished. But I don’t blame you if you need to put your feet up first! ~ Fl!p 360-671-4511
SMARTFOOD RUN?
Does anyone have time to make a run for more to-go containers? Probably a few other items too. My guess is we can won’t run out till Wednesday. I’ve got funds to pay for what’s needed. Fl!p 360-671-4511
BOXES FOR DELIVERING
Tues, Thurs & Saturday mornings are the best times to get boxes at the Community Food Coop. I called. It’s good for cooks to pack their meals in nested cardboard boxes for insulation. Write all the ingredients on one box lid flap so it’s easy to see.
DELIVERY
Flash your headlights at the food tent for meal pick-up so you don’t have to get out of your car. If it’s your first trip, feel free to call me first to discuss. Fl!p 360-671-4511
2020 MAGAZINES AVAILABLE FOR PICKUP
With the Public Library not open to visitors, we have no place to offer our finished magazines for others to read. Some feature up-to-date news, and others more lasting-interest articles. We have these titles available for neighbors:
Weekly: The Christian Science Monitor, The Week
Bi-Weekly: The Nation
Monthly: Smithsonian, Scientific American, Opera News
Please call to arrange a pickup or a delivery.
~ Mary Rausch, Utter St., 360-734-1842
WHO WORKS ON TUBE RADIOS FROM THE 50’S?
I’d like to use my grandmother’s Westinghouse tube radio from 1958. It ran 20 years ago but I’m hesitant to plug it in and turn it on now. Does anyone know a radio hobbyist who can check and replace capacitors and resistors and align tuners in old radios? Call or text (360) 927-0863 ~ Ed Simmers
RADIO FREE FL!P: THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE
Joan Baez – Somehow I am not surprised that this song has floated up in my mind this week. The song was written by Phil Ochs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwXO0sbN4pc
Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511 2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org
If you’re willing to share your phone with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission. Nor would I ever exploit it. You might put mine in your phone so if I were to phone you, you’d know it was me.
If you want to ask me to post something, just email me. If it’s urgent, phone. If it’s a real emergency, call 911.