EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) -- Social services are continuing to expand at Occupy Eugene’s gears down at its Washington Jefferson Park with new help from Food for Lane County, St. Vincent de Paul and the Egan Warming Centers.
Friday, December 23rd, 2011, Food for Lane County opened “The Dining Room,” the non-profit’s restaurant style food kitchen for the needy. Normally, the Dinning Room is closed on Friday.
Along with a breakfast meal, staff all gave sack lunches to anyone who took part in the Friday meal. About 75 people were served on Friday by the Dining Room’s paid staff.
All of the money to fund the Dining Room’s operations and food costs on Friday was paid for by the city of Eugene.
Egan Warming Center managers have also expanded their services, opening the Wheeler Pavilion at the Lane County Fairgrounds on Thursday and Friday night, December 22nd and 23rd, 2011. That particular warming center site may not reopen though past Friday evening.
“So it may be possible to offer additional nights but that's going to be dependant entirely on volunteer resources and some of their operational concerns and obviously it's a very difficult time of the year to staff with volunteers,” said Mike Sullivan, Manager of Planning and Development for the Community Development Division of the city of Eugene
A program run by Saint Vincent de Paul, the car camping program has expanded as authorized by Eugene City Council earlier in the week. Those expanded areas have popped up at several sites throughout the city.
Sullivan says anyone who is interested in taking advantage of the car camping program should contact St. Vincent de Paul directly at 541-687-5820.
