“Waggle & Swap” family dance party includes music, art corner, and costume supply. Free to Woodlawn Swap & Play members, $5.00 per family for non-members. For more information, call Mary at (503) 706-0233.

Village Ballroom, 700 NE Dekum St.

Looking for a place to celebrate  on Thanksgiving day? Doing the holiday community-style is a beautiful thing. There are volunteer opportunities, too!

PROPER, with Po’Shines Cafe de la Soul and Celebration Tabernacle Church, is sponsoring its 11th annual free Thanksgiving feast. There will be a full holiday dinner with vegetarian options and live entertainment.

• Thursday, November 24th  from noon to 4pm
• Celebration Tabernacle
• 8131 N Denver Ave (Kenton District), North Portland,  OR 97217

Woodlawn Swap N Play is hosting a Halloween Harvest Festival this Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Village Ballroom, 700 N.E. Dekum St.

Kiddie movies, treats and games are provided for youngsters five and under (though all are welcome). And here’s the best part: It’s free.

Beer and wine will be for sale for $4 with proceeds going towards the opening of the Oregon Public House.

So put on the kid’s costumes, bring a blanket and a pillow, and join your neighbors for an afternoon of fun.

Woodlawn Swap N Play and The Oregon Community offer kid-friendly fun for toddlers five and under, but all ages are welcome!

Sunday, 10/30 at 4:00 pm

Village Ballroom, 700 NE Dekum

More information available here.

The City of Portland, CASH Oregon and the Financial Planning Association of Portland invite you to attend Portland Financial Planning Day on Saturday, Oct. 22,  from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Portland Building. You have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with dozens of professional financial planners to discuss personal finance questions, concerns and interests.

Information will be provided on a pro-bono basis by experts from the Financial Planning Association and highly qualified CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals. There are no strings attached – volunteering financial planners will not pass out business cards, marketing materials or sell products or services.

You may seek information and advice on a wide range of topics, including:

GENERAL FINANCIAL PLANNING
Buying a Home – Debt Management
Building a College Fund – Savings Goals
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SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Job Loss and Job Change – Foreclosure Assistance
Change in Marital Status
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INVESTMENT PLANNING
Investment Strategies – Asset Accumulation
Generating Investment Income
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RETIREMENT PLANNING
Building a Retirement Fund – 401(k) and 403(b) Plans
IRA Accounts – Social Security
______________________________________

INCOME TAX PLANNING
Tax Reduction Strategies
Charitable Contributions – Small Business Taxation
______________________________________
ESTATE PLANNING
Building an Inheritance – Wills and Trusts
Estate Tax Strategies
______________________________________
INSURANCE PLANNING
Life Insurance Coverage – Disability Insurance
Long-term Care Planning
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EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
Managing Health Insurance – Health Savings Accounts
Pension Benefits
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In addition to personalized advice, Portland Financial Planning Day will also feature a series of classroom-style 50-minute educational workshops.

For more information, visit www.cashoregon.org and click on Financial Planning Day.

Sounds like a great event!

The Josiah Hill III Clinic has detailed information about how to keep children and their homes safer.  Click here to learn about:

• preventing lead poisoning
• improving air quality
• making non-toxic cleaners

The Portland  Backpack Lunch Program packed the first delivery of the school year this week and could use our help.

The program provides two lunch sacks each Friday to more than 120 schoolchildren, including many from Woodlawn Elementary, who are at risk of hunger during the  weekend.

Volunteers gather to help pack the lunches and are always needed. Specifically, the program needs a volunteer to help deliver bins of lunch sacks to Woodlawn School once a month on a Friday — it only takes about 1 hr and 15 minutes. The next scheduled delivery is Friday, Oct. 28. Volunteers meet at Woodlawn Methodist Church at 9:15 a.m. If interested or you need more details, email Marilyn at m_mauch@comcast.net.

But more importantly, the program relies on food donations to ensure our neediest children have food to eat when they aren’t in school.

Needed food items include:

• Cans of chili, soup, ravioli with meat sauce, mac & cheese

• Small juice boxes, 100% juice only, no foil containers

• Individual size fruit cups

• Small packages of crackers/cheese, raisins, fruit snacks, granola bars

Donations can be dropped off at WNA monthly meetings at the  Woodlawn Community Resource Center in Woodlawn Methodist Church, 1425 N.E. Dekum Street. There’s a bin in the meeting room & the bin poster lists the types of food items to contribute.

DONATIONS ARE WELCOME AT THE WNA MEETING THIS WED., OCT. 5.

Monetary donations are also welcomed. Checks can be made to Fremont UMC. Write “Backpack Donation” in memo field and mail to Fremont UMC, 2620 N.E. Fremont St., Portland, OR 97212.

$100 sponsors one child for a school year of weekend lunches.  Each donation, regardless of amount, is important. Fremont UMC sends out documentation of donations for tax purposes annually.

Don’t let lack of two-wheeled transporation prevent you from enjoying tomorrow’s event ! You can rent a bike from Pedal Bike Tours will at Alberta Park or Portland Bike Tours at Rigler School.

More about Sunday Parkways here.

Come to the Classic Foods Open House and Benefit Saturday, September 17, from 1:00  to 5:00 PM, 817 NE Madrona Portland, OR 97211, 503-234-9387

Please bring two cans of food to donate to the Oregon Food Bank.

Here is the Sunday Parkways brochure! It shows the route, times, and event highlights.

For a map showing Woodland Park activities and vendor locations, go here.

And for Durham Street vendors, click here.

Hope to see you there!