PORTLAND, Ore. – For more than a week, several all-volunteer, grassroots organizations in Oregon’s largest city have been collecting and delivering supplies for Black and Indigenous people who have been affected by wildfires.
Nikki Cook, a 4-H educational program assistant with Oregon State University Extension Service in Portland, has been volunteering her time to assist with the efforts, including organizing a donation drop off at the downtown OSU Portland Center on Sept. 11.
“These groups contacted me and said they needed a drop off site downtown,” Cook said. “Extension often works to support the efforts of community partners.”
The donations included drinking water, toilet paper, towels, sheets, sleeping bags, tents, non-perishable food items, pet food and hand sanitizer – all earmarked for the Klamath Tribes in southern Oregon.
The initiative didn’t end there. On Sept. 16, Cook volunteered for a second donation drive for fire evacuees in the Portland area.
“We were once again able to use the OSU Portland Center as a drop off site and we had a great response,” Cook said. “Volunteers unloaded, organized, and sorted the non-stop donations from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. All of this has been so collaborative and in the spirit of true mutual aid and community support, not for any personal or private benefit.”
And last Friday, Cook participated in a collaboration with Native Wellness to to collect baby supplies for Native American mothers. Cook said it was important to her that the groups involved in the effort funnel resources directly to those who need them immediately.
“To me, this is true engagement,” she said.
