Jewelz for Food

Hall Rentals

Bend's Community Center has over 4,500 sq ft of rentable space that can be configured in a variety of ways - formal, informal, theatre-style, or sit-down - to serve a range of needs both large and small. BCC features the following space and amenities:

• Main Hall (2,400 sq ft) - can also be divided into two separate rooms with airwalls
• Cafe (1,429 sq ft) - can accommodate up to 95 people
• Board Room (465 sq ft) - for meetings or changing rooms/child care for events
• Commercial Kitchen - capable of serving up to 300 people
• Stage - with podium and full sound and A/V system
• Mini-kitchen/Wetbar - with refrigerator and sink for after-hour parties
• Two screens
• ADA accessible - 2 full ADA bathrooms and showers
• In-house catering and bar service are available
• Fax machine, copier, phones, easels, TV, VCR, etc.available at reasonable rates

Click here for pricing and more information

Thrift Store

Bend's Community Thriftstore (BCT) is located at
184 NE Franklin Avenue and it provides several important
benefits to the community.

1. It's a great place to find affordable items - clothing, houseware (dishes, linens, etc.), furniture, appliances, sporting goods, books, records and children's items. With close to 7,000 sq ft of showroom space, it's the largest thriftstore in town.

2. The BCC thriftstore is the primary location for our job training program - providing valuable work experience and skills development for over 25 people in a wide range of activities (e.g. customer service, learning how to operate the cash register and credit card machine, sorting, repairing and displaying thriftstore items, ebay sales, etc.) There is a computer training center upstairs and and a bike repair shop in the back!

3. Through a voucher program, the BCC thriftstore provides free clothing and other basic amenities to clients of many social service agencies including churches and FAN (Family Access Network).

4. Proceeds from the thriftstore go to support Feed the Hungry and other BCC programs.

Hours Open to the public:
Monday - Saturday from 10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Sunday from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm

Donations are gladly accepted:
We need gently used clothing, books, household items and furniture. Higher end items are also gladly welcomed as we can sell them on ebay.

Please call (541) 312-2069 if you have any questions.

Feed the Hungry

Bend's Community Center opens its doors each Sunday afternoon to help feed and clothe those most in need. Started in 2005, the Feed The Hungry program (FTH) is now the largest food kitchen in Central Oregon, providing up to 800-1,000 meals per week to hungry and homeless men, women and children in our community. Every Sunday afternoon, BCC provides a free hot meal (and sack lunches and leftovers to go) along with hundreds of meals for residents of Bethlehem Inn, other local food kitchens and the surrounding homeless camps.

Keep Them Warm is a related initiative that collects and distributes free camping and outdoor survival equipment (e.g. tents, sleeping bags, coats, tarps, gloves, etc.) to the homeless. Showers and laundry facilities at BCC are also made available at no charge (although reservations are required due to hall rentals and staffing needs).

PROGRAM HOURS: Each Sunday from 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Doors open at 1:00 pm and the meal is served from 2:00 to 5:00. Participants are free to socialize, watch TV, or just get out of the heat or cold).

VOLUNTEERS AND DONATIONS:
Volunteers are needed to help prepare and/or serve food in shifts of 2-4 hours from 10:00 am - 6:30 pm on Sunday and 9:00 am - 4:00 pm on Friday and Saturday. Please contact Volunteer Coordinator, Jackie Ralph at jackie@bendscommunitycenter.org to see what times are available. There has been such an outpouring of volunteer support from the community that we have had to schedule volunteers and do not recommend walk-ins. Sorry about that!

Cash donations can be sent to BCC (they are tax deductible) - or - you can make an online donation by clicking on the Donate button below. Please make checks payable to Feed The Hungry. Food donations and outdoor survival gear can also be dropped off at any time.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: BCC is seeking community sponsors to assist with the Feed The Hungry program. Local businesses, churches, organizations, schools, civic groups and others can "adopt" one (or more) Sundays a year. The sponsor agrees to provide 6-12 volunteers to set-up, cook, serve and clean-up afterwards. In addition, the group provides $500 to pay for the costs of food, personal care items and other supplies needed to operate the program.

There are also several groups (mostly youth and school) who are more than willing to provide the labor, but not necessarily the funds, so please consider making a donation to support their efforts.

Please call 312-2069 for more information on volunteering and sponsoring Feed The Hungry.

Becca's Closet

Becca's Closet is a national program that provides formal attire to low-income high school students who otherwise would not be able to attend their prom/homecoming or other dances and events. BCC is host of the Central Oregon chapter which was founded in 2004 by teen Sara Persons and is now located in the basement of Bend's Community Center. Donations are gladly accepted.


This program is managed completely by teens under the guidance of BCC staff and adult volunteer, Susie Menshew. Teens collect formal dresses and accessories, work with local businesses to have the clothes cleaned, and give them away free to teen girls (and boys) who cannot otherwise afford to buy such items. To date, over 800 dresses have been collected and more than 400 have been given away to girls from every high school in Central Oregon, including La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Warm Springs, Redmond and Sisters.

Key things to know about Becca's Closet:

• Formal wear is available at no charge to high school students throughout Central Oregon

• Becca's Closet has expanded and now also carries formal wear for boys (albeit with limited sizes and selection)

• Becca's Closet is not always open - please call 312-2069 to schedule a fitting appointment

• Identification - you must have and bring your current student body (ASB) card with you

"This program is a god-send for my daughters! Thanks for remembering what it was like to be a teenager and how important it is to feel that you "fit in" with your peers."

- Quote from an appreciative parent

Job Training

Over the last three years, Bend’s Community Center (BCC) has significantly expanded its job training programs to where it now runs one of the largest training sites in Central Oregon for people trying to move off public assistance and/or gain work experience. BCC currently partners with COIC, Experience Works and Heart of Oregon Corps/YouthBuild to provide valuable on-the-job training (OJT) and work experience to more than 40 at-risk youth and adults at any given time.

Job training can be for as little as 6 hrs per week up to 40 hrs per week and it depends entirely upon the individual needs and interests of the job trainee. In 2009, more than 200 adults and youth will receive job training at BCC (and we have a 70% placement rate). Together, these job training partners play an essential role at BCC - providing low-cost "staffing" to help run programs and make the organization successful! Job training takes place at the BCC thriftstore (184 NE Franklin Avenue), the original BCC building (1036 NE 5th Street) and at our our new warehouse (350 SW Industrial Way). Job training occurs in a wide range of activities:

retail/customer service office work/clerical catering/food preparation computer programs (e.g. Office) bicycle repairs construction janitorial services landscaping event management heavy machinery (forklift, clothes baler)

Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council - COIC receives state contracts to provide retraining and employment services to help clients develop or improve skills so they become job ready, employed, self-sufficient and/or complete educational goals. BCC staff hold a weekly one-on-one session with each client to discuss how they are doing and where and what they need to improve in order to get or keep a job. BCC staff assist and evaluate their skills, attitude, learning capacity, dress, and can also serve as a work reference.

Experience Works - BCC is a host site for Experience Works which provides job skills and training for low-income seniors who are entering (or getting back into) the workforce. To date, BCC has trained over 35 EW clients, three of whom were formerly homeless women living at Bethlehem Inn. Within 3-6 months, all of them were able to find employment utilizing the job skills and references through BCC. Experience Works recently named BCC its top job training site in the state!

Heart of Oregon Corps (HOC) - HOC is a non-profit organization that works with at-risk youth throughout Deschutes County. HOC provides crews of supervised youth who help run the bike repair shop, work on various construction projects at the thriftstore and utilize the computer training center upstairs.

Bend's Community Diaper Bank

Want to make a difference for a family or person living in crisis? Do it with Diapers! For those who need them, diapers are not a luxury. They are a necessity that only affects vulnerable populations who cannot help themselves - the disabled, the elderly and babies. The impact of not having diapers is interwoven with all the other issues surrounding life in poverty and crisis. Click to download Diaper Bank handout.

The Facts

• A healthy change of diapers costs $100/month or more .... for all ages
• Full time work at minimum wage grosses ~$825/month
• Average social security benefits are ~$875/month
• Safety Net programs (e.g. Food Stamps, WIC, Medicare) do not cover diapers

The Impacts

• Many disabled babies never outgrow the need for diapers - not when they are 8, or 12 or an adult
• Adding diaper costs to uncovered medical expenses can devastate families earning an otherwise adequate income
• For school, job training or work, many disabled children and adults need incontinence supplies
• 15-20% of all adults over age 65 suffer some degree of incontinence
• Healthy, but incontinent seniors often become homebound if they can’t afford supplies. This impacts loneliness and depression and increases the need for assistance programs
• Incontinence is among the most common reasons for the elderly to be placed in nursing homes
• Parents who can’t afford $100/month to leave disposable diapers at child care often leave the workforce until their children are out of diapers. Child care costs are often subsidized, but there are no subsidies for diapers
• A normal infant uses up to 12 diapers/day; a normal toddler 8/day. But, in low income households, a baby may be in a single diaper all day or longer, increasing the risk of serious health problems
• A baby crying from being in a soiled diaper for a prolonged time is more likely to be abused

How it Works/How You Can Help:
The Diaper Bank does not give out diapers directly to individuals, but deals instead with many local agencies that work with infants and seniors - Grandma's House, Mountain Star Family Relief Nursery, DHS.

Bend's Community Diaper Bank gladly accepts donations of diapers and funds to purchase diapers and cover program expenses (our dropoff location is 350 SW Industrial Way). For partner agencies who want to place an order for diapers, please call 323-2303 or send us a FAX at 323-2304.

How to Contact or Find Us:
Pat Leahy
Phone: (541) 312-2069
FAX: (541) 312-2084

Bend's Community Diaper Bank
350 SW Industrial Way
Bend, OR 97702

Bend's Community Bike Shed

Bend’s Community BikeShed (BCB) is a completely unique venture that believes in the power of the bicycle to bring the community together! What began as a service learning project for Heart of Oregon Corps youth has developed into a community-wide program where people can learn how to maintain and repair their own bikes while serving the needs of the homeless, low-income and others who depend on their bikes for transportation. BCB offers the following services:

Bicycle repair and distribution - BCB tools and equipment are available to use on a sliding scale fee so people of all ages can learn how to repair and maintain their bikes; repairs and maintenence may be done for free for those who are homeless

Job training for youth - our goal is to provide intensive bicycle repair training to 30 youth per year plus teach basic maintenance information to another 100 youth per year

Bicycle safety/alternative transportation education - with the help of Commute Options and other organizations, youth will learn bicycle safety and promote biking as a great form of transportation

Recycling Center - BCB will work with many community partners, including the landfill, to keep bicycles out of the dump - our goal is to repair, reuse and then recycle parts as a last resort

How to Contact and/or Find Us
Bend's Community BikeShed
184 NE Franklin Avenue (located inside BCC Thriftstore)
Bend, OR 97701
Phone: not yet

Special Thanks to our many Donors and Supporters

Bend's Community Center
Hutch's Bicycles
Heart of Oregon Corps
Cascade Couriers
Commute Options
Westside Church
The Sweet Harlots
Silver Moon Brewing
Bethlehem Inn
At Your Site Storage
The Loft
ReStore
Rise Up and many more!

Clothing Baling

Bend's Community Center is launching a used clothes baling operation at our new warehouse at 350 SW Industrial Way. Why and how are we doing this?

Last year, it is estimated that the US spent over $300 billion on new clothing. To clear space for fresh fashion, the average American got rid of 68 pounds of clothing and textiles. This all adds up to billions of bags of used clothing that is donated to thrift stores. About half the garments donated eventually wind up in overseas market stalls or as industrial fiber. Between 1999 and 2003, the U.S. exported nearly 7 billion pounds of used clothing and worn textiles, an overflow that otherwise would have been dumped in local landfills.

These figures don’t surprise us at all. Since BCC opened its own thriftstore in the summer of 2008, we have received literally tens of thousands of pounds of excess clothing that will never make it onto the showroom floor that could be baled and sold abroad. There is currently a successful clothes baling operation in Redmond (at the Opportunity Foundation of Central Oregon), one in Prineville (at St Vincent de Paul), and Goodwill sends excess clothing to its own clothes baling operation in Eugene. But, there is currently no clothes baling operation in Bend. The BCC clothes baling operation will accomplish several goals and be consistent with BCC's desire to find creative solutions to community challenges:

Increase job training options - a clothes baling operation will provide important work experience for up to 3 part-time staff (i.e. sorting and loading clothes, operating the forklift, heavy equipment maintenance, marketing service to other thriftstores and the community, working with the landfill on a diversion project - see below)

Keep hundreds of tons of used clothing out of the landfill - thriftstores typically send hundreds of pounds of used clothing to the dump every single day. Having a formal clothes baling operation in Bend will provide a great opportunity for BCC (and other local thriftstores) to get rid of excess clothing instead of having to drive it to the landfill and pay dumping fees. We will also work with the County to establish a program at the landfill for people to drop off clothes that we will pick up.

It will help move BCC closer to self-sustainability - a successful clothes baling operation will provide a small source of revenue that can be used to help pay the lease and support the other social service programs offered by BCC

A Big Thank You to several local businesses and agencies that helped launch the BCC clothes baling operation:

Bend Garbage and Recycling - donated baling machine
Deschutes County - $10,000 start-up grant
US Bank - $4,250 start-up grant
Bank of the Cascades - $750 start-up grant

How to Contact and/or Find Us
BCC Warehouse (for Clothes Baling and Diaper Bank)
350 SW Industrial Way
Bend, OR 97702
Phone: not yet

Volunteer

Bend's Community Center relies upon volunteers of all ages and abilities to help run its programs and keep costs down. There are literally hundreds of volunteer opportunities available that support both BCC programs and the organization as a whole. BCC is flexible and willing to work with your schedule to take advantage of your interest and/or expertise. Some jobs can even be done from your home!

Volunteer for any of the following ongoing positions:
• Events Coordinator - assist in managing BCC events and activities
• Office help - assist with bookkeeping, maintain database, open mail
• Community relations – help with marketing, newsletter, website, grant-writing, events
• Board of Directors – meets 4th Wednesday of the month at 3:30 pm
• E-Bay sales – volunteers needed to help take pictures and write descriptions

Volunteer in the following areas:
• Feed the Hungry
- Help set-up, cook and clean-up (volunteers needed Friday, Saturday and Sundays)

• On-the-Job Training
- Instructors needed to help with computer training

• Thriftstore and Warehouse
- Help with transporting, sorting and cleaning items
- Help create/build additional storage space (shelving, racks, etc.)

• Becca's Closet
- Assist with marketing and publicity

To learn more about volunteers opportunities, please call Taffy Gleason at (541) 312-2069

About Us

Bend's Community Center (BCC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which was founded in 1999. BCC's main offices are located at the site of the former Bend Senior Center and we also operate programs out of two other service buildings (BCC Thriftstore and BCC Warehouse).

BCC fills a unique niche in the community in that it is both an events facility and a social service provider.

Events Facility - BCC serves as a partner with many local nonprofits, clubs, agencies and organizations by providing a flexible and affordable location for trainings, workshops, conferences, classes and special events. We are also available to the public for weddings, receptions and private parties!

Social Service Provider - BCC offers several programs that provide basic goods and services to at-risk low-income residents. These include running the largest food kitchen in Central Oregon, employment-related training to youth and adults, a used clothes baling operation and a diaper bank for infants and seniors.

BCC Programs & Services

• Hall & Room Rentals (including catering)
• Feed the Hungry / Keep Them Warm
• Thriftstore / ebay Sales
• On-the-Job Training (for Youth and Adults)
• Becca's Closet
• Bend's Community BikeShed
• Diaper Bank
• Clothes Baling Operation
• Volunteer and Community Service Center

Board of Directors

Bruce Abernethy (Bend-La Pine Schools) - President
Kathryn Carter (DonJoy Orthopedics)
Lorri Craig (Jones & Roth)
Chuck Hemingway (Central Oregon Veteran's Outreach)
Patricia Leahy (Send Out Cards)
Jon Napier (Karnopp Petersen)
Kathy Nielson (US Bank)
Tim Robinson (Greg's Grill)
Clella Thomas
David Tranby (Beacon Church) - Treasurer

Staff

Taffy Gleason, Director

taffy@bendscommunitycenter.org

Linda Heatley, Office Manager

linda@bendscommunitycenter.org

How to Contact and/or Find Us

BCC (Main Offices)
1036 NE 5th Street
Bend, OR 97701
Phone: (541) 312-2069
FAX: (541) 312-2084

BCC Thriftstore
184 NE Franklin Avenue
Bend, OR 97701
Phone: (541) 312-9567

BCC Warehouse (clothes baling operations and Diaper Bank donation drop-off)
350 SW Industrial Way
Bend, OR 97702
Phone: (541) 312-2069 for general information

For partner agencies who want to place an order for diapers, please use the following:
Phone: (541) 323-2303
FAX: (541) 323-2304