Sisters Transportation and Ride Share (STARS) has received a $30,000, three-year general operations grant from Roundhouse Foundation, supporting nonemergency medical transportation (NEMT) for Sisters Country residents. Roundhouse said the multi-year grant was awarded to acknowledge the great work STARS does in the community, and to provide sustainable support in the coming years. Rennie Morrell, STARS Program Manager, said, "Roundhouse has always believed in STARS and has provided us generous support over the last three years. This new grant will be a cornerstone for keeping STARS successful over the next three years and is very encouraging to the dedicated STARS volunteers."

Last Thursday, October 10, the bar at Three Creeks Brew Pub was full of good food, good friends, and good feelings as the Sisters Transportation and Ride Share (STARS) organization gathered for their second annual volunteer appreciation event.

STARS provides free rides to nonemergency medical appointments (physicians, dental, vision, physical therapy, hearing, lab work, and testing) in Sisters, Bend, and Redmond for residents of Sisters Country who can't drive themselves. Rides are given by volunteers who use their own cars to help their neighbors. All volunteers are screened and trained. Dispatching is an easy way to volunteer from home one or two days a month to help those who need rides to connect with drivers.

There are many reasons people need rides to medical appointments. They may have given up driving altogether, have a temporary condition that makes driving impossible, or they may feel uncomfortable driving in inclement weather or outside of their own area. Whatever the reasons, when people stop driving themselves, they have limited options for travel to nonemergency medical appointments. Most people rely on paying for rides, or asking a friend, neighbor, or family member for assistance. The problem with these options is the expense that adds up when using paid rides for frequent appointments, and the all-too-common feeling of being a "burden" to others.

The theme of National Volunteer Week, April 16-24, is "Volunteering Weaves Us Together."

Nowhere is that truer than among the Sisters Transportation and Ride Share (STARS) volunteers who provide free rides to nonemergency medical appointments for their neighbors in the Sisters School District. By offering to support their neighbors, volunteers add to the strength and vibrancy of Sisters.

Sisters Transportation and Ride Share (STARS) is an invaluable local program that offers free transportation for all Sisters Country residents, to Sisters, Bend, and Redmond for all non-emergency medical appointments: physicians, dental, vision, physical therapy, hearing, lab work, testing, and vaccinations.

STARS and COVID-19 came on the scene within months of each other, and yet STARS volunteers were able to provide 146 rides in under a year’s time in 2020 with hefty pandemic restrictions in place.

A big heart in a little package might be just the right way to describe a Sisters resident who has contributed to the Sisters community for the 23 years she has called this place home.

Annie Marland was one of the first to purchase a home in 2000 in The Pines, the 55-plus community located off McKinney Butte Road. Her neighbors refer to her as “The Historian,” because she’s been there since the beginning of the neighborhood. Her dad lived with her for the first four years, until he passed away in 2004.