Seeking that mysterious thing they call the internet

So my goal is to make daily blog posts about what I am doing but our first stop is slowing me down a bit due to lack of internet access. I have to go to the library to get any.

Lakeview Oregon is a pretty sweet little town with 2,700 people living here. I would like to point out that my high school had about 2,200 people in it. So this really is small by Tigard standards.

Only three of us are present on this leg of the trip; myself, MacAdam Lea and Alex (I need to find out his last name I guess). We are in Lakeview for a whole week doing stuff before the rest of the group rendezvous with us on Saturday and we head to Nevada.

The drive down here from OSU was beautiful. We almost hit a deer which was pretty scary but other than that, all is good. MacAdam's grandparents, Papa Jim and Grandma Dorothy have lived here since the beginning of time so we have a lot of connections in the town. We are staying at Papa Jim's rental property that has been coined the "Givel" by MacAdam's Dad because Papa Jim never collected rent from his tenants so it was practically given away.

Our first real day of work took us into town (we are out on a ranch in the surrounding area) where we toured around and had meetings. At 10:00am we met the local Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church to help take down tables and discuss the Food Pantry that they will be holding on Friday. We learned quite a bit; it on takes about 10 minutes to move tables and that the Food Pantry is one of the best run in the state. Lakeview is at a crossroads though because because most of the town is dying out. A significant portion of the city is elderly as the younger generations are leaving and not returning. The Pastor is concerned about how much longer the Food Pantry will be able to remain open. Our goal is to help them devise a plan so this is not the case. We will meet back with them on Friday.

After that, we explored the town and the surrounding area a bit.



Here is a view of Lakeview from Black Cap. Notice that you can see Goose Lake in the distance.



Here are the boys (MacAdam on the car, Alex standing) with our SWEET SIFE van.



I have nicknamed our van the Bug Slayer because we killed like a billion bugs on the way here.

After our little tour of the city we met with Lisa Herndon at the hospital about the Dr. Daly Days Health Fair on Saturday. We are going to set up a booth and do cooking demonstrations as well as sell some cookies for a fund raiser. If you are in town, drop by.

After that, we headed back out to the farmlands to do pest control for local ranchers. Ground squirrels burrow in the fields. Cows step in the holes and break their legs. Not to worry though, we went what the locals call "poppin' squeaks".

It was a long day but we got quite a bit done. Sunsets in the country are the BEST!

The Race is On!

The first stop of our Hunger in the Homeland Tour takes us to Lakeview, Oregon.
Anybody who knows the infamous Kelly Fitzpatrick has heard a million and a half stories about this little town in the middle of nowhere. I now finally have the chance to experience it for myself.

For those of you who do not know what Hunger in the Homeland is, it is your lucky day because you are about to find out.

First you have to know that I am a member of an international colligate group called Students in Free Enterprise (Here on known as SIFE). SIFE strives to make the world a better place through sustainable business practices and free enterprise. This is kind of along the same theory of, you give a man a fish and he will eat for a day but if you teach a man to fish, he can eat for a lifetime. For more information you can check out the official website at www.sife.org. It is a pretty cool organization.

One of the current issues that SIFE chapters in the United States are trying to tackle is hunger. Last year Oregon State University SIFE was recognized at a National level for our efforts, winning the overall competition for Campbell Soup’s Let’s Can Hunger Challenge. During the 2009 – 2010 school year, OSU students raised over 60,000 pounds of food for local food banks and created awareness campaigns on this issue. In late spring, the Oregon State University SIFE chapter pledged to continue our efforts with a five-year commitment to help end childhood hunger.

Last summer a group of eight OSU SIFE students traveled around the country looking at innovative hunger solutions and helping with emergency relief efforts. (Some of you might remember that I was gallivanting around Europe during this time!)

This summer takes us back across the country from Oregon through the Deep South to Washington DC and back. We are still looking for innovative hunger solutions that we can bring back to Oregon and assisting with emergency hunger relief efforts. This year, we are also raising awareness about this national issue with interactive presentations and helping to start food drives on a local level. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments or email me at pendergk@onid.orst.edu.

Our journey will last for about five weeks. We are stopping in cities in Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.

One thing is for sure; this is going to be a very interesting summer.