Pardners, join us on Friday, October 10th, 2008 (note the date change) from 6:30-10pm at the Portland Art Museum’s Kridel Ballroom for our biggest fundraiser of the year!  Last year’s Hoedown & Auction grossed $137,277 for the good work of Sisters.

The amazing Sparrow Quartet will perform at Hoedown. This American acoustic group features Béla Fleck on banjo; the fabulous Abigail Washburn on banjo and vocals, Casey Driessen on violin, and Ben Sollee on cello. The wonderful Casey Neill band will be performing at the beginning of the evening.

Tickets are $85 for individuals, tables of ten are $850; and a limited number of patron tables are available for $1,300. To buy tickets or a table click here, call Monica at (503) 222-5694, ext. 19 or email Monica at sistersoftheroad.org. We need your fabulous Live Auction donations! Please call (503) 222-5694 ext. 14 or email Lisa at sistersoftheroad.org to donate or if you’d like to volunteer on the Hoedown committee of the day of the event.

We are also seeking sponsors for this great event! To get the details about this opportunity, download a PDF by clicking here; you can also call Monica at (503) 222-5694 ext. 19 or

Sisters is grateful to announce that a wonderful group of six Senior Capstone students (pictured above with Sisters’ Research Coordinator Heather Fercho) from the PSU Computer Science Department have chosen to work with Sisters Of The Road for their community project.

The students are collaborating with Sisters’ Research Team on the qualitative data that was collected from 600 interviews that asked people who’ve experienced homelessness to describe their experience and suggest solutions to the institution of homelessness.

They will work to get Sisters’ existing database reformatted and online so the public can utilize this valuable information, amplifying the voices of our community. Please join Sisters in thanking Hussain Al-Hammad, Chris Hall, Kathy Horiguchi, Tom Schilling, Timothy Welbourn and Scott Wespi for all of their amazing work!

Our special summer fundraiser Operation Cornbread matches your donations two-to-one now through July.

Every dollar you donate will become three! Our goal is to raise $20,000. The money we raise will help individuals, families and children at Sisters throughout the summer months.

Here’s what your donation can support:

• Beverages, 1 Week $50
• Flour Tortillas, 1 Meal $60
• Eggs on Breakfast Day $68
• Coffee, 1 Month $76
• Rice and Beans, 1 Month $104
• Canned Fruit, 1 Month $212
• All Groceries, 1 Week $700

Please consider helping today.
Click here to donate and choose ‘Operation Cornbread’ as your donation type. Click here for more information or call Catharine at 503-222-5694 ext. 12 or . Thanks for your help keepin’ the cornbread comin’ over the summer months!

Sisters and Street Roots have kicked off a postcard campaign to repeal the Sit-Lie and Anti-Camping Laws. The postcard asks the Mayor and City Commissioners to repeal these laws with a space at the bottom for people to sign and print their name. The cards are printed with Sisters as the return address. Within 2-3 weeks, we want to have collected enough to assemble in a way that creates a powerful visual image, and march the cards from Sisters to City Hall.

We need your help to make this successful! Download the postcard by clicking here and mail it back to us (be sure to use a 27 cent stamp).You can also drop by Sisters (133 NW 6th Ave.), or get a card from a Street Roots Vendor.

Please do not sign multiple cards, or write any messages on the cards that are violent or profane. For more information, please contact Devin at 503-222-5694 ext. 16 or email Devin @sistersoftheroad.org.

To celebrate 3 years in business, St. Johns Booksellers will be holding a sale and will donate 10% of sales to Sisters all day Saturday, June 28. The store is located at 8622 N. Lombard st.; (503) 283-0032.

All regularly priced used books will be buy one get one free on this day only! St. Johns Booksellers’ donation will be matched $2-for-$1 through Sisters’ summer fundraiser, Operation Cornbread. Then stick around for an event at 3:00 pm, when author James Thayer presents his book Portland Forest Hikes and then invites guests to join him on one of the hikes from the book, starting right at the bookstore.

Thank you St. Johns Bookseller!

Utah Phillips, beloved friend to Sisters, folk musician par excellence, rabble-rouser, long-time Wobblie and joke-telling, train-hopping hobo, passed away peacefully in his sleep the evening of May 23.

Sisters will hold a memorial to honor him on Tuesday, June 10 at 5pm. All are welcome. Songs, jokes, stories and poems are welcome to celebrate the life of this incredible, exceedingly well-loved man.

To read more about Utah and his passing, click here.

Notes of condolence may be sent to the Phillips-Robinson Family care of Orion at Sisters, and I will forward them: Phillips-Robinson Family, C/O Orion Lumiere, 133 NW Sixth Ave., Portland Oregon 97209.