Grey Bears Sees Renewal in 2015

Opportunity to Improve Facilities and Programs

By Noel Smith

After a fire that destroyed its thrift store and workshop area on Saturday September 7, Grey Bears’ Executive Director Tim Brattan is optimistic about the future of the organization. “We have permits to take down the affected buildings and should complete the cleanup by January 1. The ongoing work now with the board and community partners is to develop a strategic facilities plan to determine the best way forward and to improve on what we had.”

Brattan said that Grey Bears Brown Bag Program has doubled in the past 10 years from 2,200 to 4,500 senior households served each week. Volunteers deliver more than 40,000 pounds of mostly fresh produce each week to seniors at a network of sites and to homebound seniors throughout Santa Cruz County. “Such brisk program growth is why we were already stretched at our current Chanticleer campus even before the fire. One of the goals of the strategic plan is to improve the efficiency of our campus, including parking and traffic flow for all of our programs,” Brattan says.”

The countywide increase in programs that serve seniors such as Grey Bears is due to two major factors. One is the economy with those on fixed incomes finding it more and more expensive to pay for basic necessities including food and housing, and the second reason is the growing number of seniors as the population ages.

Everyone of any age is invited to become a supporting member of Grey Bears. Those members age 55 or older are entitled to receive a week shopping bag of groceries. “The median age for those we serve is 72,” said Brattan, “Nationally studies indicate that seniors who are most challenged to meet basic needs are those 60-69 years of age before receiving social security and Medicare. Currently we serve 230 seniors that are at least 90 years or better.”

Brattan, who has been the Grey Bears Executive Director since 2010, grew up in a farming family in Chico, California. “We grew tree crops — prunes, almonds, walnuts and pears in Glenn and Tehama Counties. My family still operates a prune dehydrator in Ord Bend on the Sacramento River. I’m still in the food business – the collecting and distribution end of it.”

Another change coming in 2015 is the increase in membership dues starting January 1. The new membership levels will be $30 per year, $50 for two years, $70 for three years and $250 for a lifetime membership. The increase is due to the ever-rising costs of food collection, refrigeration and distribution.

Today’s board members run the gamut from small business owners to academics, experts in recycling, engineers and accountants. This is the perfect mix for an organization dedicated to helping seniors by taking the unwanted items of our society and putting them to good use.

The Grey Bears Campus is located at 2710 Chanticleer Avenue in Live Oak and offers the following programs:

• Recycling Center — Grey Bears operates two recycling drop-off facilities, one at the Chanticleer Recycling Center and the other at the Buena Vista Landfill. They accept everything recyclable at curbside and in greater quantity, plus metal, aluminum, electronics and more. Visit the Grey Bear website at greybears.org for a complete list of what is accepted at each site. Chanticleer is open every day from 7:30 am – 3:45 pm, and Buena Vista is open Monday – Saturday, 7:30 am – 3:30 pm.
• E-Waste Center — They recycle all electronics and appliances including computers, printers, monitors, TVs, hot water tanks, washers, dryers, refrigerators, microwaves and other household electrical items (anything with an electric cord) free of charge, seven days a week at their Chanticleer location. They also accept lead-acid and UPS (surge protection, laptop, lithium ion) batteries.
• Thrift Store — Open for business, the Thrift Store is “bursting” with wonderful holiday gifts and special treasures at great prices. It is run mostly by volunteers who sort through, clean and repair donated treasures, antiques, furniture, clothing, books, music, kitchenware, nick-knacks — all for sale at low prices. They also sell tumbled clear and colored glass for art, decorative and construction applications.
• Computer Electronics Store — the store offers refurbished desktop and laptop computers loaded with the latest operating systems, components and peripherals, hard drives, keyboards and monitors, CD ROMs, memory, modems and cables, plus stereo hi-fi, audio/visual gear including TVs, DVD/VCR players, stereo tuner/amplifiers, speakers, consumer electronics, and appliances including refrigerators, microwave ovens, vacuums and more.
• Classes — including chair yoga, computers, iPads and other electronic device instruction, Spanish, Taiko drumming and cooking classes.

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Grey Bears 2710 Chanticleer Avenue, Santa Cruz 95065. Ph: 831-479-1055. Email: info@greybears.org Website: greybears.org.

Grey Bears’ Activities at the Campus

Recycling Center & E-waste open every day, 7:30am – 3:45pm

Main Office: Monday-Friday, 8am – 3:45pm

Warehouse Mon-Fri, 8am – 1pm

Brown Bag Program, bagging every Thursday – Friday, 7:30-9am

Thrift Store and Electronics Store Monday-Saturday, 10am – 3pm

Thrift store donations accepted Monday–Saturday 10am – 2pm

Electronics Store donations accepted 7:30am – 3:45pm every day.

Buena Vista Recycling Center, 1231 Buena Vista Drive, Watsonville — open Monday–Saturday, 7:30am–3:30pm

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40th Annual Grey Bears Holiday Dinner

In 1973 Grey Bears was conceived by UCSC students Kristina Mailliard, 23, and her boyfriend, Gary Denny, 32 as a project for their major. They gleaned fruits and vegetables from local farmers and gardens to share with local seniors. Surprised by the amount of undernourishment of the elderly poor that was found, they held a harvest festival attended by 100 seniors.

Then in 1974 the first Grey Bears Holiday dinner was held at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Volunteer cooks led by Thelma Dalman prepared the dinner at the old County hospital kitchen on Emeline Avenue.

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On Sunday, December 7 2014 the Grey Bears held their 40th Annual Holiday Dinner on December 7 at the Civic Auditorium. 1,000 seniors enjoyed dinner, entertainment, volunteer awards, and were given more than 700 scarves, hand-knitted by Carol Pereyra.