Quality Child Care of Florence Opens Their Doors
After a four-and-a-half year effort a cooperative child care facility, aimed at offering consistent and high quality day care opens for the first time this morning.
Kim Erickson – “Quality Child Care of Florence officially open Monday through Friday 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM.
Kim Erickson is with QCCF, an organization that grew out of conversations in 2007 about a need for a child care facility in the Florence area. At that time, employers, parents and other community leaders got together to brainstorm what do to about the shortage. They embarked on a fund raising effort that faced some obstacles, but eventually met with success, culminating with the arrival of a manufactured building that was assembled near Siuslaw Middle School in January.
The finishing touches have taken a little longer than anticipated as the group continued fund-raising efforts to pay for them. They’ll offer care for newborns through pre-schoolers Monday through Friday year-round.
Read for the Need
The response to requests of book donations for the annual Read for the Need book sale coming up June 2nd and 3rd speaks volumes about continued efforts to feed the hungry in Western Lane County. Already nearly four-thousand books have been donated for the annual sale that was the brain-child of 14-year old Taylor Graham.
Since the first book sale in 2005, readers have contributed more than $60-thousand for Florence Food Share and Food For Lane County. Donations of ‘gently’ used books, audio books, videos, DVDs and even VHS tapes can be left at Grocery Outlet, Food Share or St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
Dunes City Seeks Top Volunteer
Officials in Dunes City are hoping to recognize that community’s top volunteer next month. The incorporated city of about 12-hundred has no tax base and relies heavily on volunteers to assist the small cadre of paid workers that staff Dunes City Hall. Mayor Rebecca Ruede said it was Councilor Duke Wells that suggested they recognize the “folks that give so much of their time” to the city. Nominations for Dunes City’s top volunteer will be accepted all this month at city offices… the council will announce their decision during the regular June meeting.
Fee for Florence Yard Debris Disposal Likely Going Up
Once open burning inside the Florence City Limits was banned nearly five years ago, many residents in Florence needed a way to dispose of brush and yard debris that began accumulating. Officials recognized that it could be hauled to the Lane County Waste Transfer Site, but that could get expensive… and also added unnecessary organic waste to the county’s landfill at Short Mountain. Florence began accepting woody yard debris at the north end of the airport each month, initially for free, but eventually a $5 per pickup or trailer load was instituted. Non-residents were eventually allowed to drop off debris, and last month, they paid a higher fee than residents.
This evening the Florence City Council is being asked whether or not they support raising the fee to $10 per load, no matter the residency. Public Works Director Mike Miller says by doing so, that would nearly offset all of the projected annual costs incurred in operating the dropoff site.