By THERESA HOGUE
Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 12:00 am
Anyone looking for information about Benton County's economic situation would have found it in the long lines at the Benton County Fairgrounds Monday morning. The annual Community Holiday Food Drive food box giveaway is serving almost 1,400 families - an increase of 150 families over last year.
"That's a record," said Judy Gibson, organizer of the food drive, as she sorted cans into boxes during a lull in the day-long food giveaway. A host of volunteers, including a group from Griffo Brothers who have been helping at the annual food drive for 20 years, stood at the ready with shopping carts, prepared to load up each family with everything from frozen turkeys to cranberry sauce and squash to brighten their holiday table Thursday.
But while there's enough food to go around, the organization is short $6,000 to pay for all the extra food that had to be purchased to meet the increased demand. Earlier this month, Boy Scouts collected nearly 30,000 pounds of food from local residents, but financial and food donations are still short, Gibson said.
"We had to buy quite a bit of food to supplement (donations)," she said. That included cake mix, stuffing, pumpkin filling and canned milk.
On Sunday, volunteers from the Corvallis Unitarian Universalist Fellowship dropped off Thanksgiving meal boxes to 250 families in the county, also a record.
The increase didn't surprise Gibson. Her husband Mike Gibson is executive director of the Linn-Benton Food Share. Mike said that the number of people in Linn and Benton counties accessing emergency food pantries was up 40 percent in October.
"I haven't seen anything like it," Gibson said
Although the financial outlook is bleak for many residents, Mike Gibson is hoping that those who can afford to share will make donations to both the drive and the food share, because after holiday food drives are long past, the money can be used to purchase items to help those in need throughout the winter.
In addition to the 1,400 families who signed up to receive boxes, Judy Gibson expects another 75 to 100 people to walk in to the fairgrounds today between 10 a.m. and noon. Although she expects food supplies to last (she just picked up 15 extra cases of turkeys), helping those in need means adding to the deficit.
The organization is asking for tax-deductible financial donations to offset their shortfall. Donations can be dropped off or mailed to Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers, 1109 N.W. Ninth St., Corvallis, in care of the Community Holiday Food Drive. To make a donation to the Linn-Benton Food Share, see www.csc.gen.or.us/foodshare.htm or call 752-1010.