PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Youth Villages Oregon worked to wrap 800+ gifts through their Holiday Heroes Campaign, Wednesday Night.

Youth Villages is a non-profit organization that helps youth from birth to age 22 through emotional and behavioral problems, with the goal of helping families live successfully. Much of their focus is on young adults in the foster care system.

“We send counselors into homes, schools, and other community locations so that we can help them overcome the challenges that they’re facing,” says Andrew Grover, executive director of Youth Villages Oregon.

Through the Annual Holiday Heroes Campaign, the organization can “fulfill holiday wish lists for youth and their siblings whose families may struggle to provide holiday gifts and necessities.”

This year they fulfilled 360 wish lists.

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One of Wednesday’s gift wrappers was Ethan Bulisco, a Youth Villages employee, who once was the recipient of a Holiday Heroes Gift.

Bulisco spent 7 years in and out of the foster care system.

“I’ve witnessed the most of it, most of the system, whatever is in foster care, I witnessed,” he says.

Seeking support as he aged out of the system, his case worker recommended Youth Villages. Bulisco says the non-profit’s programs guided him through life, educational, and career goals.

Bulisco, now an employee at Youth Villages, helps youth aging out of foster care.

“They know they have someone to connect with, whether that’s on a foster care level or hardships that they have gone through in life,” he says.

If you would like to participate in the Holiday Heroes Campaign, it is not too late. You can donate to youth villages here.

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A 64-year-old woman who went missing in an Oregon state park for nearly two days was pulled to safety by the U.S. Coast Guard in a rescue caught on camera over the weekend.

The unnamed woman went missing on Friday evening in Shore Acres State Park after becoming separated from her group, according to a Coast Guard press release. The woman did not have survival gear on her when she became lost. That detail, paired with the approach of nightfall and concerns about rugged terrain, prompted the Oregon State Police to request Coast Guard assistance.

A helicopter was sent out to search for the woman using thermal imaging that evening but was forced to turn back due to inclement weather after finding no traces of her.

The following day, several agencies including the Oregon Department of Emergency Management, Coos County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police and ground search and rescue parties, including K-9 teams, from the Coos County Search and Rescue Team joined the search.

Watch the rescue

Coast Guard joins rescue of missing woman in state park

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a 64-year-old woman who was missing in Shore Acres State Park in Oregon for three days.

When weather allowed, the Coast Guard again dispatched flight crews in search of the woman. Despite the use of Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras on the helicopter to detect heat signatures, again no one was found.

It wasn’t until Sunday when the searching parties, now joined by the California Oregon Regional Search and Rescue Task Force (CORSAR), discovered why the woman’s heat signature was not being picked up by the tech.

Woman found alive after nearly two days in state park

Around 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, members of a ground search party began hearing cries for help coming from a remote area of the park. Bushwhacking through the underbrush to follow the shouts, the team finally located the woman, who was showing signs of hypothermia and dehydration.

She had taken shelter underneath a log, blocking her heat signature from the infrared cameras. It was ultimately her calls for help after hearing helicopters flying overhead that led to her rescue.

Once found, the ground crew started a fire and covered the woman in blankets to keep her warm as helicopters prepared to hoist her from the park. A rescue member was deployed by 1:45 p.m. to place the woman in a hypothermic bag and set up the hoist.

In a video of the rescue captured by a Coast Guard member, the crew member is seen being lowered from the aircraft to the ground to prep the rescue. The woman was then moved via helicopter to Bay Area Hospital in North Bend where she was transferred to EMS.

“The Coast Guard and our partner agencies here on the Oregon Coast routinely train together to ensure we can execute coordinated search and rescue missions whenever we’re called upon,” said Cmdr. Jay Kircher, operations officer and one of the helicopter pilots at Coast Guard Air Station North Bend, in the press statement. “It’s fantastic to see this teamwork in action and produce a successful outcome.”

Oregon Ducks wide receiver Evan Stewart is undoubtedly acrobatic with a unique perspective as a transfer and a top Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) player in college football.

Oregon Ducks on SI talked with Stewart about his newest NIL partnership, his emotions after winning the Big Ten Conference Championship, how Oregon compares to Texas A&M and the SEC, his NFL Draft goals and addressed how the Ducks can win the Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff.

The experience watching the championship confetti fall after beating the Penn State Nittany Lions in a thrilling 45-37 victory in the Big Ten Conference championship was unlike anything that the star wide receiver has ever experienced in his life. Stewart mentioned that he has never won anything before at that magnitude.

“I was kind of twisted between feelings because I’ve never won before. I was like where’s the confetti? And really, I was just standing there soaking in the moment. I was thinking about the fact that that wasn’t the last game. It was a quick celebration and as coach Lanning says, we’re trying to celebrate afterwards for three to four days.”

– Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart

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Texas A&M at College Station and the University of Oregon in Eugene couldn’t be more two completely different places. When asked about what the biggest difference in culture between the schools is, Stewart pointed out that the physicality of Oregon is more intense than the SEC’s Texas A&M.

“For the football side of things, A&M is SEC ball. Like South ball. Out here, with it being a West Coast vibe, a lot of stuff is more laid back but they both got a common factor of physicality. Coming out here to Oregon, things are way more physical than what they were at A&M during my time there. And that was a big shock.”

– Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart

“As for the living situation, it’s College Station. You’re right down the street from Houston. You don’t go to Dallas too far, Austin. You got Northgate. It’s a bunch of community and opportunities to meet new people. Out here in Oregon, not too much to do. You go win a game, you go home, you’re happy about it. Things are much more relaxed.”

– Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart

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Stewart recently signed an NIL deal with Mountain Dew and 7-Eleven to promote their Blue Shock Slurpee. In celebration of the nostalgic flavor, Stewart along with five other college football athletes formed the “Mountain Dew Blue Shock Slurpee Squad” to drive excitement around tailgating and gameday this college and professional football season.

Stewart mentioned that he’s a true Mountain Dew Blue Shock Slurpee fan and has been frequenting 7-Eleven throughout the season. He will continue to do so during the holidays while the drink is still available. When asked what the craziest thing that he’s spent his NIL money on, he brought up his new car.

“I haven’t been spending much. A lot of saving for me but I’d probably say my car. One of my cars got stolen while I was at Texas A&M so I had to go buy a new one. It’s an AMG GLE 63S Mercedes which was my dream car growing up.”

– Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart

Oregon coach Dan Lanning has a lot of talent across the offensive board but Stewart’s speed, especially right off the snap, plus his ability at the wideout position to catch 50/50 balls is special. Despite the plethora of different offensive threats that the Ducks possess, he continues to find ways to make himself stand out.

“As you said, our team is pretty good. It’s not like you just need that one person to keep making this play or this one person to make that play. Everybody is either going to have their days or somebody new is going to have their days. I’m just playing my role.”

– Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart

In his junior campaign, Stewart has totaled 613 passing yards and caught five touchdowns on 48 receptions. He gives a ton of credit for his success with the work that was put in during the offseason.

“My hands weren’t as assured at A&M, if that makes sense. I had a couple of dropped passes in the past couple of seasons, balls I shouldn’t have dropped. That was definitely one of the things I keyed in on this offseason. My hands, my hand-eye coordination, the placement of how I catch the ball and secure it. Seeing it all the way to the tuck. We’re seeing the difference this season.”

– Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart

Stewart has dreams of playing the NFL in the future and knows he’s not perfect. If a scout were to ask him what one part of his game that needs to improve upon in order to succeed at the next level, Stewart would say that he needs to continue to get stronger and live in the weight room.

“I would say my strength. I’m talking on multiple levels. Like with the run game since coaches like people that can block. In the NFL, everybody’s not the same size. You got Fred Warner’s walking around. Defensive backs get bigger too. You got the Jalen Ramsey’s. Just being stronger in the play style, with running routes, breaking tackles.”

– Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart

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Stewart and the Ducks now await the winner of the No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers vs. the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes which will take place in Columbus on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 5. p.m. PT. The Rose Bowl Game is set for Wednesday, Jan. 1st at 2 p.m. PT.

Stewart addressed what it’s going to take to continue Oregon’s winning ways throughout the College Football Playoff.

“Everybody’s best. Especially with a bunch of transfers and a bunch of seniors. A lot of people haven’t been this far. Everybody is about to take their first steps in the water that is the College Football Playoff. As long as we have the same mindset just like we did going into every week this season, then we’re gonna give our best 60 minutes of football every single game.”

– Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart

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