Generally running out of food isn’t a good thing, but in this case it shows that fund raising really works! OSU’s Organic Growers Club has been hosting a $5 lunch every Friday of the food drive and last week’s lunch sold out in very short order. So much so that a notice was sent out to the list serv just 36 minutes after the opening of the lunch buffet. Talk about success! 🙂
The Life Sciences Departments had one of their fund raising events last night at the Elks Lodge. We organized a “Pub Trivia” evening and it was quite successful. But I would like to especially acknowledge the Corvallis Elks Lodge for letting us use their facility rent free and for a donation of $80 at the end of the evening. They were very gracious hosts!
Mary Fulton
Linn Benton Food share has the ability to take credit card donations via the web only. It is through a third party site, Network for Good. The web address for the LBFS giving page is https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=931099406.
There is an optional line with the ability to “designate” funds. Fill in “OSU Food Drive” and your unit name for tracking.
Stephanie in the Chancellor’s Office asked what portion of Linn Benton Food Share’s yearly budget comes from our drive. Ryan McCambridge reported “OSU Totals from last year represent 25% of our yearly food purchase dollars or 7.7% of our total budget (food & non food)”.
Thanks for the great question Stephanie!
Colleen, from Linn-Benton Food Share thanked everyone (for attending the 2001 OSU Food Drive Kick-off) and became choked up while talking about what our efforts make possible. She said she’s amazed when some people come in and apologize for having to be there. The message she wants to be able to tell everyone who comes through their door is “There is food here for you.”
She said more and more they’re getting requests for foods with low sugar, low salt, and gluten-free items.
Linn-Benton Food Share’s goal this year is to be able to distribute five million pounds of food to their network of 70 member agencies. Here in Corvallis that includes the south Corvallis food bank, the north food bank at St. Vincent DePaul at St. Mary’s Church on 25th Street, and the OSU Food Pantry.
~Contributed by Julie Howard, College of Forestry
If you do a fundraiser themed around Valentine’s Day, you might want to check out http://www.papermart.com/pro/january2011c.html. They have a fun selection of packaging that’s cost effective and right in line with the holiday.
Here’s a recent article listing the top 10 hungry states (with some additional good stats.) Thanks Cass for sharing! http://247wallst.com/2010/12/03/the-ten-states-where-the-most-people-go-hungry/
We may be up there in food insecurity, but notice that we are not at the top for obesity. A good sign that we are at least making some healthy choices.
Rising unemployment and foreclosures due to the current economic recession resulted in 240,000 people per month eating meals from an emergency food box last year, up from 200,000 the previous year. of those, 36 percent are children.
A basic family budget – enough to cover the essential needs for a family of four was $45,274 in 2007, while a full time job at Oregon’s 2009 minimum wage provided only $17,500.
*Statistics provided by the Oregon Food Bank Network September 2010
We did it! We raised 519,000 lbs of food! Congratulations OSU!
We beat our last years record by 34,000 lbs. Great job!!
OSU’s Rural Studies Program faculty has reported some interesting hunger facts in the past few months. Check out the links below to learn more!
Faculty Affiliates Joan Gross and Nancy Rosenberger were published in the December issue of the journal Food, Culture & Society on “The Double Binds of Getting Food among the Poor in Rural Oregon.” Science Daily provided an overview article.
New Rural Studies Program Publications include:
Understanding Food Insecurity and “Hunger” in Oregon by RSP Faculty Affiliate Mark Edwards;
Who is Vulnerable to Hunger in Oregon? by RSP Faculty Affiliate Mark Edwards; and
Changing Federal County Payments and Rural Oregon Counties: Analysis of Policy Impacts and Responses from Loss of Secure Rural School Funding in Selected Oregon Counties by former MPP Student Dawn Marie Gaid.
