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Help make CAN food drive a success
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With unemployment in the area still hovering in the double digits and
numerous families dealing with layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts, it’s
clear that food insecurity remains a major issue for many families. In
order to help restock the shelves of local food banks, the volunteer
Community Action Network, or CAN, is gearing up for its second annual
countywide food drive. The effort will take place Nov. 7 in conjunction with local Scouts’ annual door-to-door Scouting for Food event. Combined, CAN and Scouting for Food hope to collect enough food to make sure food banks can sustain those in need for some time. But the effort’s success will depend on the generosity of the community. We hope people will be willing to donate to the effort. Volunteers will be posted all day at Albertsons, Grocery Outlet, Safeway and Wal-Mart and at the EOU football game. The North Powder, Union and Elgin food banks will hold collections that day as well. And the Scouts will be going door to door in various neighborhoods and will be available 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to pick up donations from households that call. The number to call is 541-624-5699 Cash donations are also welcome. Checks can be made out to United Way of Eastern Oregon and sent to P.O. Box 862, La Grande 97850. One hundred percent of the money donated for the food drive will go to purchasing food. The fund is separate from the United Way’s annual fall fundraising drive, which is also under way. Carmen Gentry, food bank manager for Community Connection, says the demand on the area’s food banks is tremendous and is not going away. Complicating efforts to make sure the pantries have enough supply is the huge demand statewide that limits what’s available from the Oregon Food Bank. All of Oregon is struggling to keep up. It’s up to local communities to make sure that their local food banks have sufficient supply for local citizens. CAN is an ad hoc committee made up of people representing local business and local government. The volunteer effort will rely on people representing all aspects of the community — students from EOU, local service clubs, local business and government — who will man the drop boxes on Nov. 7. A few hour-long slots remain to be filled. Anyone who would like to work a shift at one of the grocery stores or the EOU game can call Angelika Brooks at the city at 541-962-1309. Please try to help out. Donate some food and help show that Union County cares about its own. |
