Long-Time West Women's Volunteer Turns 94
October 9, 2009 - Charlie Wilson, our volunteer for the past 21 years at The Salvation Army's West Women's & Children's Shelter, turned 94 years young on October 7th. The West Women's staff, along with 34 friends and family, helped Charlie celebrate his birthday on Friday October 9th. When asked what he would like served at his birthday lunch, Charlie requested his favorite food: ham hock's, beans and corn bread. Oh yes - birthday cake, 5 different kinds of ice cream, and pumpkin pie was also served 
A beautiful portrait was painted for Charlie and all the children and staff put together a wonderful book with all the children's and staff hand prints along, articles, and poems. Charlie and many of the guests had tears in their eyes as Charlie expressed his heart-warming thanks for the unique gifts.
Backyard Garden Makes for Fresh Produce and Fresh Outlooks at The Salvation Army West Women's & Children's Shelter
September 1, 2009 - Seeds are planted everyday throughout The Salvation Army programs. However, at West Women's & Children's Shelter, seeds are planted within the individual and now in the ground! Since June 2009, the women, children and staff at The West have been tending to a rather large garden at the facility. It has helped not only the women and children with their internal growth, it has also allowed The West to take steps towards more self-sufficiency. With several types of lettuce, squash, peppers, tomatoes and spices, the West's cooks can make and add to meals with fresh produce from their garden!
It all started as a request from a resident during her monthly Client Council Meetings with the director. This resident has always been a gardener and lived on a farm prior to coming to The West, and she asked if they could start a garden in the backyard. In order to make this a successful project, it needed to include involvement from staff, residents and volunteers so they started a Garden Committee. Together, with staff and residents, they set forth a plan for what vegetables they wanted to grow, where they would grow the plants and how they would get in-kind donations to get the garden started.
Everything used for the garden was donated: the soil from the Food Bank, plants from a donation through an advisory council member and from Fay Schuler's garden and seedlings started in the children's program during care hours. A Boy Scout group took on the project of building the raised beds one Saturday in June. Then members of the Garden Committee went out and planted the starts in the planter beds. 
Currently a few of the residents and Tracey, the Donations Coordinator at The West, keep up the garden through watering and trimming the plants. Residents have reported how relaxing and therapeutic it is to be in the garden, to water and to weed. The kids in the program go out to the garden to see the growing crops and love to eat the veggies right out of the garden. The cook has started to use the basil, lettuce, squash and some early tomatoes for the meals provided at The West. It was a great day when a resident came in with the first Heirloom Tomato and they were able to share in this delicacy together. Residents at The West will be eating straight from the garden for the rest of the summer, a rewarding experience as they are able to have fresh, organic and delicious food that they all took part in growing!
Annual Sports Camp at Nike Donates Time and Equipment for Children at The West
September 1, 2009 - Every year excitement abounds as the children receive their athletic gear in preparation for their week-long camp at the Nike campus in Beaverton. And this year was no different! For the past several years Nike has graciously donated a week's worth of athletic camp and equipment for the children at the West Women's and Children's Shelter.
This summer seven children, ages five to ten, participated in soccer drills and scrimmages coached by the Warner Pacific College women's soccer team. The same week Nike offered the older children the opportunity to attend a tennis camp.
Joe, age 12, has traveled to several shelters around the country with his family fleeing abuse. He was quite apprehensive about tennis camp as he had never played tennis before. Joe ended up having a terrific time and learned so much about tennis. He enjoyed it so much that he even asked his mother to find tennis courts near his home so he could improve his skills enough to try out for the team at his school.
Attending Nike sport camps each summer gives the children an opportunity that they could otherwise not afford. The West appreciates Nike's continuous generosity and thoughtfulness. West Women's Advisory Chair Melissa Mungai, along with her women's group at Nike, make this possible by covering all fees related to camp. Since camp, the children have often been seen sporting their new Nike gear and practicing the moves they learned during their memorable camp experience