Oregon Coast Community Action chairman, Brenda Brecke, has written the following community letter providing some insight into the board choice to treat partner matters with confidentiality.

Dear Community,

At ORCCA we work with thousands of individuals, and hundreds of groups and organizations everyday on matters of human dignity with a common goal of helping our community thrive. As with any broad coalition of diverse groups, differences of opinion, personalities, and operational structure may occur. At ORCCA we believe it is in everyone’s best interest to work through these challenges politely, in a dignified manner and in keeping with our obligation to confidentiality.

We are disappointed that some of our partner organizations have chosen to try to solve their grievances through a public venue, but we must maintain our own standards, keep our nose to the grindstone, and continue our efforts to help those in need. To that end, the ORCCA Board of Directors decided to move forward working with our partners through a confidential mediation process.

Every year there are more individuals who find themselves in need of food. We estimate that in the 2011-2012 fiscal year, we will be distributing 2 million pounds of food to our network, 1.2 million more pounds than we were moving just 5 years ago. ORCCA raises funds through donations and grants to cover 70% of the cost of transporting food in the most efficient way possible. In fact, during this holiday season, ORCCA is moving 115,000 pounds of food at no cost to our partner agencies due to several grants we have been awarded. Our partner agencies pay only a small handling fee on some items ($0.14 – 0.18 per pound).

We are not willing to compromise our organizational values around how we work with the people we serve and tear individuals or organizations apart in the newspaper or any other public venue. If you are concerned or have questions, please feel free to contact us. The best way to reach us to communicate a concern is to boardchair@orcca.us.

Sincerely,

Brenda Brecke
ORCCA Board Chair