Press release * Dora Sitkum Rural Fire Protect District

Press Release

01-11-07

Dora-Sitkum Fire District Receives Funding

Coquille Tribal Community Fund Awards $80,547 for Building Project

Residents of the Dora-Sitkum Rural Fire Protection District are feeling like the golden spike has been driven in their own personal railway—a railway leading to a new Fire Hall and Community Center.

The Coquille Tribal Community Fund has awarded $80,547 to Dora-Sitkum RFPD to help fund two building projects at Dora, which is a 20 mile drive east of Myrtle Point. The projects are a new fire hall and the major remodeling of an existing building used for an emergency center, library and community center.

“ This is a very big milestone in our fundraising effort,” said Richard Kirk, chairman of the district’s board of directors. “This grant brings us up to full funding. It will make available money from some earlier grants that hinged on our having all the funds lined up.”

Founded by the Coquille Indian Tribe, the Tribal Community Fund has distributed close to $2 million to support projects in the area of education, health, public safety, arts and culture, problem gaming treatment and historic preservation in a five-county region of Southwestern Oregon. This year the fund awarded grants totaling $634,148.

For organizations wishing to be considered for the next round of funding, the deadline for applications is Aug. 31. For more information, visit the Fund’s Web site at www.coquilletribalfund.org.

“Words cannot express my joy,” said Betty Vaughn, fire board member and director of the Dora Public Library. “We have now reached our financial goal of $961,600. I am so grateful for all the support our community has received to make our dream come true.”

“This is great news. I can’t think of a better way to start the new year,” said Doug Backman, fire chief. “By this time next year, we should be backing trucks into a brand-new building.”

More information about Dora-Sitkum RFPD and its building project may be seen at dorasitkumrfpd.org.

Jan. 17, 2006

Dora-Sitkum RFPD Raises $744,000 For New Fire Station, Bigger Library, Remodeled Community Center.

With more than $744,000 in grants and donations, Dora, Sitkum, and McKinley are moving ever closer to building a new fire hall, expanding the library, and remodeling the community center in Dora. Fundraising efforts for the overall project, which has a price tag of $961,600, have been spearheaded by Dora-Sitkum Rural Fire Protection District’s fundraising committee and its chairman, Chris Seely. To celebrate the fundraising success and to launch the second phase of fundraising, the Dora Friendly Club and the Dora-Sitkum Fire Department invite everyone to come to the Dora Fire Hall for a potluck at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 3, according to Seely.

Door prizes to be given away at the potluck include a $50 gift certificate for Benetti’s Italian Restaurant in Coos Bay and a $10 gift certificate for the A&W Restaurant in Myrtle Point. “We have raised more than $40,000 from local people and businesses,” Seely said. The next goal of the fundraising committee is to raise an additional $27,000 so that construction of the new fire hall can begin. “We need to raise matching funds for the Block Grant,” she said. Dora is located about 18 miles east of Myrtle Point on the East Fork of the Coquille River. The Dora-Sitkum RFPD has provided fire protection to Dora and Sitkum for more than 20 years and recently, through voluntary annexation, began providing fire protection to McKinley in the area bordered by Sitkum Lane and Middle Creek. The present fire hall in Dora serves many purposes. One classroom of the former two-room Dora School now houses the Dora Library, a public library that offers three Internet computers and checks out books six days a week. The second classroom is used for firefighter training and for a variety of community events, including the community-wide Christmas program held last month. The East Fork Community Church, an inter-denominational church, meets in that classroom every Sunday.

The Dora-Sitkum Fire Department uses spaces that were formerly the school gym, principal’s office, and cafeteria store room for the department’s fire trucks, training records, and equipment. Lots of improvements are in store for the building on Goldbrick Road that formerly served as the Dora School, according to Rich Kirk, chairman of the fire department board. “We want to move the fire trucks out of the former gym in the middle of the community center and into their own four-bay fire station next to the community center,” he said. “Then we can add on to the building to make more room for the library and remodel the gym, cafeteria, and restrooms.” The fire department has received six grants that total more than $700,000, according to Linda Kirk, grants coordinator Block Grant.

The largest grant received so far is a Block Grant of about $427,000. Block Grants are federal funds that are administered by the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department in Salem The new fire station was eligible for a Block Grant. “The Coos County Commissioners applied for the Block Grant for the fire station on behalf of the fire department after local volunteers conducted an income survey of the community and found out we qualified by income,” Linda Kirk said. “Commissioner Nikki Whitty encouraged us to apply and guided us through the application process. The Block Grant will make it possible to erect a new building a few feet north of the present building. “Having the trucks in their own building is going to be a lot better for both the fire department and all the other things that go on in the building,” said Fire Chief Doug Backman. “After we build the new fire station, we can double the size of the library, remodel the restrooms, replace the wiring, re-roof, put in a new heating system, insulate every room, put in double pane windows, re-claim the gym as a community meeting space, remodel the kitchen, add a room to the back of the building, and add a country store to the front of the building,” said Linda Kirk.

Ford Family Foundation

The Ford Family Foundation has awarded the fire department a $200,000 grant for the project. The Ford Family Foundation was established in 1957 by Kenneth W. and Hallie E. Ford, “to give back to the community.” The Foundation endeavors to help individuals, through organized learning opportunities, to be contributing and successful citizens; and to support non-profit activities, agencies, and projects, with particular emphasis on small to mid-sized rural communities in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. The Foundation is located in Roseburg, Oregon. “The Ford Family Foundation has helped us all along the way with training and grants as we worked to improve our community center to better serve the fire department, library, church, Dora Friendly Club , and the whole community,” said Linda Kirk. “The Ford Family Foundation has been a true partner in helping us make a difference in Dora, Sitkum, and McKinley.”

James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation.

The construction project in Dora has also received support from a James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, a Portland foundation, which has pledged $15,000 toward the library expansion portion of the overall project. “The grant from the Miller Foundation will benefit the Dora Library by alleviating current crowded conditions, “ said Grant Combs, library board chairman. “It will allow more room for both materials and patrons, and provide space for another computer for patron use.”

Plum Creek Foundation.

A grant of $7,500 was awarded by the Plum Creek Foundation of Seattle. “ We really appreciate Plum Creek helping us out,” said Rich Kirk. “ We want to use their grant to install good doors on the four truck bays in the new fire hall.” Other Grants The fire department has also received a $50,000 Community Facilities Rural Development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, the fire department expects to receive $5,000 from Coos County’s Title III funds next month. “The county commissioners helped us we apply for that grant,” said Rich Kirk. Local Fundraising.

Local businesses and individuals have contributed more than $40,000 in cash, pledges, materials, and labor. “We appreciate every donation—no matter how large or small,” said Chris Seely, fundraising committee chairman. Donations can be sent to Dora-Sitkum RFPD at P.O. Box 164, Myrtle Point, OR 97458.