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Friday, May 18, 2012
Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
Pat Jaffer accepts a donation at the Ella Curran Food Bank in Independence. Jaffer has been the face of the organization since the early 1990s.
October 18, 2011
MONMOUTH -- There's about half a dozen tasks going on inside the Ella Curran Food Bank during distribution hours on a recent Tuesday. Pat Jaffer seems to be involved in all of them.
"Watch your fingers," said Jaffer, as she and a volunteer slide a table loaded with secondhand clothing through the front door for display.
She directs traffic as a pair of delivery men drop off dairy goods and load them into coolers, then advises members of her crew as they sort out items for family food boxes to be parceled out.
Jaffer suggests dividing and bagging chicken for meals first. She then hurries back to the front desk to sign in a waiting food bank recipient.
"Are your kids all back in school?" Jaffer asked, thumbing through a Rolodex. "That's kind of nice, isn't it?"
Jaffer will be here until closing, as she is most Tuesdays and Thursdays since 1992. The 81-year-old pauses to catch her breath during a lull, long enough to beam over a pallet stacked high
Pat Jaffer and volunteer Sue Calef of Independence, center, move a table laden with books and clothes outside Ella Curran for display.
"We had 800 pounds donated by an individual yesterday, which is wonderful," she said.
It's been more or less a given in Monmouth and Independence during the last 50 years: If there's a person in need or a social issue to be explored, Jaffer isn't far behind.
She heads Ella Curran. She's the face of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, an organization she helped found that manages Section 8 housing for poor families.
At Christ's Church in Monmouth, she has been heavily involved in spearheading presentations and town hall meetings on diversity, immigration and other broad topics. She's also served as a Monmouth City Councilor and worked for the Polk County Democrats for more than 30 years.
Jaffer, a Minnesota native who early in life wanted to be social worker, said her political leanings tend to differ from most her age.
"I've always been called a radical," she said with a laugh.
She's more than that, said Dennis Eberly of Monmouth, a friend who works as a volunteer at the food bank.
"She's always felt that she was her brother's keeper," Eberly said. "She just exudes that in her actions."
Jaffer, her husband, Mo, and their children moved to Monmouth in 1958 from North Dakota. Mo had just taken a teaching position in the science department at what was then Oregon College of Education.
"There wasn't much here then," she said. "The town had maybe 2,300 people and the college, about 900 students."
It didn't take long for her to seek out the Methodist church in Independence and get involved. During the early 1960s, the congregation did outreach for children at migrant camps in Polk County and worked at improving relationships between Anglos and a growing Latino community.
"People need to understand each other," she said. "Even if you don't agree, listen to the
Volunteer Carmen Bachuca, left, and Pat Jaffer sort a donated box of canned food at the Ella Curran Food Bank Thursday, Oct. 13.
When the founder of the Ella Curran Food Bank died in 1978, Jaffer and a group of other residents took over leadership. She started working as Ella Curran's supervisor after she retired from her insurance agent job during the early 1990s.
This was about the same time she, Mo Jaffer, and others established Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a nonprofit focused on transitional housing.
The group acquired two duplexes from Western Oregon University slated for demolition for $1 apiece and had them transported to northeast Independence, where they're still used today. Neighbors used private funds and donations to construct more apartments.
Jaffer deals with tenants and manages the sites, said Jeanne Deane, a Neighbors coordinator.
"She's the person who finds out when repairs need to be made and if everything is in running order," Deane said. "She's generous ... she would give people the shirt off her back if they needed it."
It's been tough wearing so many hats for so long, Jaffer said. But worth it.
She's seen children who lived in Neighbors housing grow up to attend college. Ella Curran remains open because of strong food and financial support from area residents, even those who can scarcely afford it, she said.
"Sometimes you find the people who have the least are the ones most willing to give back the most," she said.
It's "not logical" that she can continue to maintain her level of volunteer involvement for the long term, Jaffer said.
But she's not sure when she'll call it quits, either.
"I'll do it as long as I'm able," she said. "I feel a responsibility to the families we've helped."
Meet Pat ...
Name: Pat Jaffer.
Age: 81.
Family: Husband, Mo, and five children.
Hometown: Riverdale, Minn.
Hobbies: Gardening, reading, crafts.
Current civic involvement: Central Lions Club, Monmouth-Independence Community Arts Association, Ella Curran Food Bank, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Polk County Democrats, and volunteer at Christ's Church Methodist Presybterian. Has been president of Polk County Habitat for Humanity and was a Monmouth City Councilor from 1972 to 1980.
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