Empty Cupboards for the Holidays

Some families in the Lake Oswego School District are struggling to make ends meet

By Rebecca Randall

The Lake Oswego Review, Nov 19, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

VERN UYETAKE / Lake Oswego Review

For some parents in Lake Oswego, the holiday season causes anxiety. How will I provide a Christmas meal? How will my kids get a good lunch during holiday break? These parents are often secretive about their financial problems, but some local groups still work to allievate what could be a more stressful holiday season than usual.

Amie, a single mother, has typically turned to the school district during the holidays for extra help. Amie works at a local hospital to support her four kids, but she still has trouble making ends meet. Unfortunately she makes too much to qualify for any formal assistance.

Amie divorced her husband two years ago and won custody of their two children — ages 13 and 8 — and her ex-husband’s oldest child, who is now 17. She also has custody of her 16-year-old niece, whose parents were not fit to care for her.

“My ex-husband has paid in total $200 in child support,” she said.

After the divorce she was also left to pay nearly $900 a month from her ex-husband’s medical bills.

Amie works full-time, and she is going to school to become a nurse. “I want to try to make our long-term better,” she said.

Each year the school district gets assistance from community organizations — the Lake Oswego Rotary, in particular — to help people like Amie. Rotary funds are put on gift cards to stores such as Albertson’s or Safeway. The Rotary has raised $4,200 in the last week to help support Lake Oswego families in need of food for the holidays. Donations will likely continue for the next few weeks.

“We’re hoping to get some gift cards for Thanksgiving and then for the winter holiday time, too,” said Superintendent Bill Korach.

“The only assistance I get is through the school,” said Amie. “If I didn’t, I don’t know what we would do for the holidays. It literally makes our holiday.”

Amie is certainly not alone in needing assistance.

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