Care Moses Lake unveils new van
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 8 months AGO
Members of the Kiwanis Club of Moses Lake, the Rotary Club of Moses Lake and Care Moses Lake gather for a photo in front of Care Moses Lake’s new transport van, which the organization recently received through donations from the two clubs and the Paul Lauzier Foundation.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | December 13, 2024 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Care Moses Lake will hit the road this year in a new van, with help from the Rotary Club of Moses Lake and the Kiwanis Club of Moses Lake.
“Kiwanis came up with the idea after a conversation with Care Moses Lake,” said Rotarian Dave Campbell at the van’s unveiling Monday. “It was a project for consideration of our golf tournament … and that ended up materializing into what we have today.”
Campbell said that the annual golf scramble held jointly between the Rotary Club and Kiwanis brought in a little over $14,000. The Rotary Club also obtained a $10,000 grant from the Rotary Foundation, and the Paul Lauzier Foundation supplied another $15,000. That left a little less than $6,000 that Care Moses Lake had to come up with, and the van was theirs.
The van isn’t brand-new, but it’s only a year old with 25,000 miles on it, said Care Moses Lake founder Michaelle Boetger.
It will have a lot more miles soon, according to an email Boetger wrote to the Columbia Basin Herald. Care Moses Lake delivers 200 Care Sack lunches every week to the Open Doors Sleep Center, the Moses Lake Food Bank and Big Bend Community College’s Viking Food Pantry, she wrote, as well as a hot meal twice a week for the sleep center residents. They also pick up donations of sliced apples from Okanogan Specialty Fruits to deliver to local nonprofits and deliver things like socks and winter clothing to the sleep center as well.
“The van really comes in handy when picking up month or two worth of Care Sack supplies from our local Grocery Outlet,” Boetger wrote. “Things like chips, granola bars, cereal cups, cookies, applesauce, et cetera.”
Boetger created the graphics for the van herself, and Signs Now wrapped it, she said.
“This van will be a moving billboard sharing our name and message with the community as it travels around town doing pickups and deliveries for our non-profit programs,” she wrote.
Besides the donors, Boetger credited longtime partners Michaelle Boetger Graphic Designs, Grant County PowerNet, Sarah Bullinger — Movement Mortgage, Lioness Club of Moses Lake, the Moses Lake Grocery Outlet and Barry Automotive in Ephrata for helping make the van a reality.
“We’re just happy to be able to support another project with our partners at Kiwanis to serve a need in the community,” said Rotary Club of Moses Lake President Amy Raymond. “We think it’s going to do a lot of good for the people of Moses Lake.”
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.