Altrusa of Yaquina Bay, Oregon

Altrusa of Yaquina Bay is small but mighty! We are a group of volunteers in the Newport area committed to serving women and children in our coastal community. We are dedicated to making a significant difference to those we serve, especially the needs of the underserved women and children in our area. These projects are the highlights of our service:

Project School Bell has been a part of our club’s mission for 35 years. Partnering with the Siletz Tribe, we provide emergency clothing and hygiene supplies to students in need, whether due to not having appropriate clothing provided at home or having an accident at school. We work directly with the health assistants at ten K-12 schools to help them purchase items, targeting kids with greatest need. In addition, we purchase supplies directly for the students experiencing housing insecurity and for the four Head Start Preschools in our area. In 2024-25, $13,000 of clothing and supplies were distributed for students through this program. Over the years, we have seen how having clothing and the ability to stay clean can help kids stay in school and bolster the self-esteem of underprivileged youth.

Literacy is a central part of our club’s efforts. We participated in 12 events in our area in the past year, giving away 1850 high quality new books. Some of the events include: the Newport Farmers Market, the PRIDE Festival, the Fisherman’s Appreciation BBQ, and El dia de los Ninos/ dia de los Libros. At some of these events, we offered a craft or writing project that engaged the youth in literacy-centered activities. We partner with the local libraries and with other organizations celebrating reading, diversity, and health. We also arranged to donate over 100 gently used books to the Lincoln County Homeless Shelter for their clients. Our signature event is Halloween, where we dress in costume and celebrate by giving out “Booooooks” in a very popular trick or treating neighborhood. In 2025 we gave away 580 books as treats! A new event this year was donating 300 nature books to local students who participated in a school-based nature education program. This was possible by a grant from the Marie Lamfrom Foundation.

Furnishing Families was created to help families graduating from Samaritan House, a homeless shelter that builds skills for young parents. When they leave the shelter, families move into an apartment of their own, assisted by Altrusans delivering lightly used furniture and household supplies We collect items from garage sales and donations and store them in the basement of a local church. Often a family will receive well over $1000 worth of supplies and furniture to help them start their new life. We are proud of being able to help young families move into a comfortable furnished apartment, without having to spend thousands on buying the essential furnishings. We are also glad to be reusing items that might otherwise have gone into the landfill.

Healthy Moms Support grew from the realization that no programs exist in our county to train young parents on childbirth, breastfeeding, and infant care. One of our members, a certified childbirth educator, stepped in to partner with the Health Department and created a series of 6-week classes in both Spanish and English. The class is offered approximately three times per year. As support, our club provides gift bags to the parents who complete the classes. The gifts include hand-knit caps, hand-made receiving blankets, quilts, bilingual board books, infant toys, and snacks for the classes. We are also creating infant care baskets that will be given to all first-time moms served by the Health Department.

Immigrant Care Closet works closely with Arcoiris, an organization devoted to helping the immigrants in our community. Partnering with the Siletz Tribe, we purchase hygiene supplies (diapers, shampoos, detergent, feminine hygiene supplies, etc.) to stock a supply closet on a monthly basis. Approximately 30 families per month have access to this support. In addition, we sponsor annual drives to purchase backpacks filled with school supplies and Christmas gifts for immigrant children in our community.

TLC for Homeless Youths and Isolated Seniors is a project in partnership with a local organization called Safe Families for Children (SFFC). Each month, we help young people and isolated seniors who are being supported by SFFC celebrate their birthdays. For the youth, we provide a luxurious cupcake, a balloon, a gift card for Walmart, and a birthday card signed by our entire group. The seniors receive a signed card and a balloon. We have heard many times that the gifts were much appreciated and really helped fill a need to be celebrated on our special day.

Scholarships were a big part of our club’s focus during the 1990’s and 2000’s. In 2025 we brought them back into the fold, thanks to a new grant from the Marie Lamfrom Foundation. We created scholarships for graduating seniors at the three high schools in our area, designating them for students who might not fit the typical scholarship recipient model. The awards went to three deserving students planning to enroll in an Oregon trade school or a community college trade certification program.