Green bags are back

NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD PROJECT

Neighborhood food pickups rebound after the pandemic slowed them a bit

By Damian Mann

for the Mail Tribune

Neighborhood food drives to feed the poor are in full swing again after the pandemic put a damper on operations.

Every two months — the second Saturday of every even-numbered month — residents of Southern Oregon put nonperishable food items in a green tote bag and set them on their front porch.

The food is picked up by neighborhood volunteers and distributed to local food pantries, which get the items to families.

The food drive typically collects 75,000 pounds of food.

In December, the Medford drive hauled in a record 42,290 pounds from 2,800 donors.

For 2021, Medford, which collects for Central Point and Jacksonville, hauled in a record 220,000 pounds of food distributed through 14 pantry locations.

“I’m amazed that people continue to press in and give and give,” said Marcy Bliss, director of the Medford Food Project.

She said the need for food has increased over the past few years because of the fires and the pandemic.

“Throughout the pandemic people have wanted to give. It shows how great the community has been in wanting to help.”

Courtney Williams,

president of the local Neighborhood Food Project, the umbrella organization for the various food projects

PHOTO BY DENISE BARATTA

Hundreds of bags of donations from Neighborhood Food Project volunteers are unloaded at ACCESS in Medford.

NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD PROJECT

More recently, the cost of food has escalated, squeezing the budgets of many families.

“SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) benefits don’t go as far anymore,” Bliss said.

Medford has been one of the largest food drive locations in the state, as far as donors and volunteers.

“Bend has passed us up as far as the number of donors,” Bliss said.

During the pandemic, the food drive was canceled and Jackson County residents were asked to provide donations of cash instead of food.

“Throughout the pandemic people have wanted to give,” said Courtney Williams, president of the local Neighborhood Food Project, the umbrella organization for the various food projects. “It shows how great the community has been in wanting to help.”

Food drives in Jackson County take place in Medford, Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Jacksonville, Central Point and Eagle Point. The Medford and Ashland programs are the largest, each collecting around 30,000 pounds of food during the drives.

The Medford effort, which also includes Jacksonville and Central Point, distributes the food to pantries such as at The Maslow Project and St. Vincent de Paul.

Many of the pantries are still providing boxes of food rather than letting customers select what they need from shelves because of COVID restrictions.

Grants Pass also has a neighborhood food collection program.

Ashland started the first local food drive in 2009, followed by Medford in 2011.

Oregon has 18 Neighborhood Food Projects, the most of the 11 states that participate in the program.

Donations can also be made directly to a local food project in your area by going online: ashlandfoodproject.com, medfordfoodproject.com, talentfoodproject. org, phoenixfoodproject.org, eaglepointfoodproject.com and www. gpfoodproject.com (Grants Pass).

Here’s a general list of items needed by the food banks: cereal,

PHOTO BY DENISE BARATTA

Merry Fischer and Tory Fischer, 9, of Medford, sort Neighborhood Food Project donations on a Saturday morning at ACCESS.

soups, canned meat, canned fruit, cooking oil, canned tuna, canned beans, dried beans, pinto beans, canned corn, masa, brown rice, long grain white rice, stewed tomatoes, fruit cocktail, side dishes, soy milk, canned milk, texturized vegetable protein, pasta, Hamburger Helper, Rice-a-Roni.

Brad Galusha with the Ashland Food Project said his organization has 2,400 donors who collected 28,000 pounds of food in December. The organization is seeking cash donations as well.

In December, he said, the organization was accepting all types of nonperishable items, but many of the volunteers became concerned about the risks from the omicron variant of the virus.

When the pandemic began, only canned goods were accepted and then were stored for 10 days in a container.

Galusha said he’s hoping his organization will begin accepting more nonperishable goods if the pandemic abates.

Donations via checks can be mailed to Neighborhood Food Project, P.O. Box 1089, Ashland, OR 97520. Donors should specify which community they’d like their money to go to. For more information on the Neighborhood Food Project, go to https://neighborhoodfoodproject.org.

Also go to the website to sign up to be a food donor.