SPRINGFIELD — Nine months after an ice storm froze the Pacific Northwest until tree branches snapped, community organizations are still recovering from the damages. One of those organizations was National Alliance on Mental Illness of Lane County, which suffered from its roof collapsing and causing nearly $20,000 of damage coming out of their own pockets.
NAMI is a local nonprofit dedicated to making mental health services more accessible by offering free support groups and resources that do not require a medical diagnosis. Jennifer MacLean, executive director of NAMI, said that the roof collapse damaged over 750 books. These mental health books were in NAMI’s community library and available for the public to read before the ice storm.
After a denied insurance claim, MacLean explained that she was looking everywhere for help in her community.
“Our community really stepped up,” MacLean said. Not too long after she went looking for support, Maclean was found by Sherill Kirchhoff, a member of Eugene’s Altrusa Club, a nonprofit that promotes literacy.
When Kirchhoff saw the KZEI story about NAMI’s damage, she went straight to her club members to see if they could help. The group was planning a sidewalk sale in August, so Kirchhoff proposed they use the profits to buy books for NAMI.
“I suggested that because we don’t have a lot of money, and it’s hard to do fundraisers when you’re a bunch of old ladies,” Kirchhoff chuckled.
Altrusa donated $500 worth of books bought from the local Eugene bookstore Tsunami Books. The store also gave NAMI a 20% discount on the purchase, resulting in NAMI getting around 50 of their most wanted books to return to their library.
At the most recent Altrusa meeting, club members adorned the inside covers of books with stickers to personalize their donations to the community.
“It takes truly a village, but it’s just encouraging people,” Kirchhoff said.