'Mother' Branch celebrates 50 years of giving 'Mother' Branch celebrates 50 years of giving (August 19, 2005)

At 86, EPA resident shows no signs of slowing down

by Sue Dremann

either stroke, nor fire, nor flood can keep "Mother" Oneida Branch at bay.

Branch, the seemingly indefatigable head of the East Palo Alto Community Service Center, will celebrate her 50th anniversary of helping the area's most needy on Aug. 18.

Branch, who runs the center out of her home, isn't sure how she will celebrate the occasion, but vowed to simply continue working -- even on that special day.

"No one should suffer," she said.

Branch, 86, was briefly felled by a stroke last month. However, it only proved to be a minor setback. "God said, 'You fool, you don't know how to stop, so I'm going to stop you,'" she said. "I spent two days in the hospital, and then I got up and went right back to work."

In the past, she has faced equally tough challenges. In 1977, eight days before Thanksgiving, a fire destroyed everything. Another time, a storm flooded the storage area and damaged supplies right before Christmas.

In 1997, her own home was burned down, destroying food and clothes to be donated.

Despite some medical complaints, Branch said she still feels like a young woman. And there is much work to do: "The need has never been greater than it is now. I pay $300 each month for a storage unit, but that's a lot of money, and I don't have it."

Branch said the best present she could receive in celebration is a permanent storage facility for the many blankets, sleeping bags and cans of food she keeps for the poor and needy. She's hoping the surrounding communities will step up to the plate, in what is now her hour of need.

"For 50 years, I've taken in people from the Red Cross, and all over. I never turn anyone away," she added.

The greatest reward she has received?

"I have seen people stand on their own feet," she said.

"Mother" Oneida Branch will be giving a sermon, "Christians Measuring Up to God's Standards," at the Woodside Village Church, 3154 Woodside Road, Woodside, on Aug. 28 at 9:30 a.m. The event is open to the public.

Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

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