SOUNDER THE ISLANDS’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
WEDNESDAY, September 7, 2011 VOL. 44, NO. 36 75¢
‘Packs for Kids’ supplies weekend meals
Fall sports preview: Page 10-11
Jane Fox photo
www.islandssounder.com
A day in the life of a mercy pilot
By SCOTT RASSMUSSEN
By MEREDITH M. GRIFFITH
County reporter / Journal editor
Staff reporter
Last year an Orcas child almost fainted during an afterschool sports activity. She told concerned adults that because it was a halfday for school – meaning no cafeteria lunch – she had had nothing to eat since her school breakfast. “This is the type of person that is getting this pack [of food],” said local Packs for Kids program coordinator Rita Bailey. “When I hear stuff like that I think, how can it be on this island that we have kids that are hungry? These are kids that our kids are in sports teams with, or have playdates with, and you may not know that there is this need – that they are hungry.” Counselors at Orcas Schools believe there at least 40 children attending Orcas Island Elementary and Middle Schools who may not be getting adequate food on weekends or school half-days. These kids qualify for free or reduced school meals, but may not be getting enough to eat outside of school. Orcas Islanders are responding with a collaborative project between the Food Bank, the Orcas Island, PTSA, teachers and the Readiness to Learn program. Through a new program called “Packs for Kids,” they will supply food-filled packs for these children every Friday before school lets out. Anonymity is carefully guarded, and only school counselors know which children are participating. Once their parents fill out a permission form, kids can discreetly stop by a designated school office and tuck their bag inside a locker or backpack. Foods include shelf stable milk, cereal, cup noodles, pop-top tins of ravioli/spaghetti or mac and cheese, tuna salad and crackers, peanut butter crackers, granola bars, raisins, fruit cups, applesauce,
SEE PACKS, PAGE 6
Sunken vessel too risky to recover, officials say
Colleen Smith Armstrong/staff photo
Pat Muffett with his Cessna 207. Since the start of this year, he has made 17 flights to the mainland.
Orcas Island pilot Pat Muffett has taken dozens of patients to and from appointments on the mainland can get to Bellingham in 10 minutes,” he said. Muffett moved to Orcas 12 years ago from hen an islander is diagnosed with can- Eastern Washington. He earned his pilot’s license cer, the prospect of weekly treatments is at 17 and began using his expertise to help others made even more daunting by ferry lines in the early 1980s with search and rescue. With his plane, he looked for drowning victims, lost and overloaded boats. That’s when Mercy Flight pilots come to the children and missing aircraft. Now that he is flying people in his community, rescue. “We do it because we love to fly and we love to Muffett says the hardest part is becoming close to help people,” said Orcas pilot Pat Muffett, who has someone who later passes away. “But it doesn’t mean I am been flying patients to Bellingham going to stop doing this,” he and Skagit County for the past “I’ve taken people said. “I will keep doing this for five years in his seven-seat Cessna 207. who aren’t that keen as long as I can.” While the time commitment The program is administered on small planes, but can vary, Muffett estimates he through the Orcas Aviation Association and nine pilots are once you do it, you’re spends a total of eight hours a week flying people to and currently participating. They hooked. ” from appointments. He juggles make around 60 flights a year for islanders undergoing cancer treat— Mercy Flight pilot Pat Muffett his piloting commitments with his two businesses – Eastsound ments or who have a injury that is Mini Storage and Eastsound not life threatening. Muffett flew a Excavating. man to Mt. Vernon for a pacemaker that he later The Mercy Flight program reimburses pilots named “mercy.” Once on the mainland, patients can use a cour- for their fuel. Typically, it receives around $2,500 tesy car at the airport to get to appointments. in donations per year, but spends $3,000 on gas. Muffett often drives his passengers to the hospital Muffett encourages islanders to send donations and then sits in the waiting room. He has already to: Orcas Aviation Administration, PO Box 712, Eastsound WA 98245. done 17 flights this year. For more information about the program, call “I’ve taken people who aren’t that keen on small planes, but once you do it, you’re hooked … you Audrey Wells at 376-3201. by COLLEEN SMITH ARMSTRONG
W
Editor/Associate Publisher
The fate of a fishing boat that ran aground and sank near Decatur Island appears to be sealed. Since the TW Legacy now rests some 120 feet below the surface of Thatcher Pass, a watery grave swept by strong currents, state and federal officials are inclined to leave it alone - at least for now. State Department of Ecology spokesman Larry Altose said the risks would outweigh the benefits of making an attempt to recover the relatively small amount of diesel fuel believed to be onboard, some 50 gallons or so. “We didn’t see the need given the risks and the amount of fuel onboard,” he said of sending divers to such a depth. “In addition, the sea bed is very rocky and that would make it much more complex and risky for a dive in that area.”
SEE SUNKEN, PAGE 6
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