Food Security United States Project #7839

Hunger.Hope.Help

by Oregon Food Bank, Inc.

Project Report | Dec 23, 2014
Hunger doesn't take a holiday

By Sarah Schirmer | Project Leader

Food recipient

Greetings,

Hunger relief is a year-round effort and we thank you for your continued support. During the holidays our hearts are filled due to the outpouring of community support through food and financial donations as well as volunteerism.

We could not do what we do without the incredible community investment. Last year, volunteers donated over 160,000 hours at Oregon Food Bank! Volunteer efforts assisted us in delivering over 36 million meals throughout Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Nearly a quarter of the food being delivered is purchased through donations made by donors like you. $10 allows us to acquire and distribute one food box which typically feeds a family of four for three to five days.

Why do we do this? We do it for people like Tim.

I’ve been an auto diesel mechanic for 30 years, but I do everything—carpentry, tractors, cattle, farm work—anything I can find. I work on a cattle ranch every spring, and last year we branded over 300 head of cattle. In Burns, we all do hard jobs like building fences and digging ditches, but that ditch-digging job isn’t there anymore.

I skip meals every day because my SNAP benefits don't last through the month. One hundred dollars is gone in no time. The food bank helps me get through.

I was staying with my mother when she died. That was a rough time. I had no food, no money, no nothing. I inherited the house but had to pay the back taxes to keep it, so my only choice was to live for almost four years without electricity or water. I did it to save the house. Otherwise I would have been homeless. I’m out of that situation now and at least now I’ve got power and water.

Summer’s not too bad because there’s ranch work, but in the winter there’s not much here. I take every odd job I can find. Winter’s coming on right now and I might have a choice between water or lights. Hopefully work comes up and I won’t have to make that decision this year.

Thank you for joining our efforts to eliminate hunger and its root causes.

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