Operation Helping Hands
Recent Staff Blog PostsDavid Madore may be new friend to farmersTrail Mix: Taxes, trades and Wesley Matthews hits ESPNWestfield Vancouver mall hosts charity sip and shopThe waiting is the hardest partRelax, WashingtoniansSW Washington Senior All Star baseball game rostersSmelt season to be proposedPreparing for a shutdownGrayson named Mountain West Offensive MVPLogin Sign UpHow to helpCash contributions to Operation Helping Hands can be made at Columbia Air Max 2016 Credit Union in care of Dianna Kelso. Gher Road.No one has to tell 10 year old Carson Kelso the greatest gift isn't the one you receive.Carson, along with his mom, Dianna Kelso, led a group of about 40 who delivered meals and coats to hundreds of area homeless during a trip Saturday through various parts of Portland, including the homeless encampment Dignity Village.Inspiration for the trip spawned from a similar experience that took place a few weeks earlier. Gher Road, where she works.After the Thanksgiving expedition, Carson gave Dianna Kelso a gift that couldn't be wrapped. "On our way home in the car, he said, 'We've got to do this again, Mom,'" she recalled. "He just melts me. He just wants to help people."On Saturday, under the direction of Carson and 9 year old Cam Hounshell, a group again went nike air max 2015 womens blue into downtown Portland, equipped this time with not only lunches but also blankets, hats, gloves and $200 of propane."The (homeless) people are amazing," Dianna Kelso said. "I wonder if we get more out of it than they do."Carson, a fourth grader at Illahee Elementary School, said the first trip into downtown Portland revealed a need that couldn't be filled in just one day.He presented his idea for round two at school, where his classmates contributed a hat and a coat. Cam placed a donation box inside his third grade class.Both boys helped pack the bagged lunches filled with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an apple, an orange, bottled water and a candy cane."I wanted to do it because I thought it would make a big difference in people's lives and my life," Carson said.One man, in particular, stood out to Carson during the Thanksgiving excursion."Last time we did it on Thanksgiving, Nike Air Max Mens even though it wasn't Halloween this guy kept saying, 'Happy Halloween. Happy Halloween,'" Carson relayed by phone before his return trip. "At least he was happy on the street. But that's the problem: he's on the street. It rains out there. It gets cold out there. That's why we're bringing them blankets."Cam, too, realized how privileged he is to have necessities easily taken for granted."I thought it was good to help them because we're more fortunate to have food and a bed and a shelter to cover us," Cam said. "They have Nike Air Max Mens to sleep outside most of the day."Carson and Cam see transients in a light few others do."I really like how they travel in pods," Carson said. "That makes it so maybe they're a little safer. They really do look out 2016 nike air max womens running shoes pink for each other."On Thanksgiving, Carson, Cam and the other volunteers saw long lines of transients waiting outside the Portland Rescue Mission.They saw similarly long lines Saturday."They have to wait in long lines for food and shelter and sometimes there's no food left," Carson said. "Then they just end up on the streets in Portland.