A Year of Challenge and Hope
On June 30, Marion-Polk Food Share (MPFS) marked the end of another fiscal year. Clearly, in many ways, this was one of our most challenging periods in 22 years of operation. The economy sank into recession, Oregon unemployment rates soared past 12% (2nd worst in the nation), and fuel prices spiked to nearly $5 before moderating to (still unappealing levels just under $3.
As a result, MPFS and our network of 83 member charities are being called on to provide food boxes for an all-time record average of 6,500 families a month. That is an 11% increase from the previous year or, put another way, it is 631 more families who are hungry in an average month than a year ago at this time.
To me, one number especially seems to speak of the impact of these times and of jobs lost: At Salem-Keizer charities, alone, more than 4,500 families who had never asked for an emergency food box before, sought this help for the first time this year. Since roughly half our food goes to charities in rural Marion and Polk counties, it is likely a similar number of new households are represented there, but the exact numbers are not yet available.
Of equal concern are the numbers of children impacted. About 44% of the people eating from emergency food boxes are children-more than 10,300 a month. In fact, from among seniors or men or women or children, it its currently children who make up the largest class of people who are hungry and must eat from food boxes.
Need continues at record levels, now. Yet, despite the challenges that face our community, it is a positive message I hope you take away after reading this. Because as I write this and glance out my window into our warehouse, I see many pallets full of food. I can say that only because I have seen this two-county community step up to help like never before.
Local corporate food donors-our single largest food source-are not able to give as much as they have in the past (quite a number have closed or moved out of the area), but they are giving what they are able. As a result, MPFS has needed to purchased more food than at any time in our history, nearly $300,000 worth, and mostly in the last seven months. That is only possible because thousands of people are giving whatever they can.
To meet just the local need, MPFS delivers 90,000 pounds of food a week to our network of charities throughout the two counties. Collecting, delivering and giving out that much food is only possible with the help of thousands of volunteers. Throughout the MPFS network, more than 205,000 volunteer hours were worked this year. No resources exist to pay the estimated $3.2 million value of those hours. Thankfully, they were donated by people in the community pulling together and giving what they could.
Food drives have historically accounted for about 10% of our food supply. Somehow, amid all that is going on, the pounds of food from these efforts have held fairly steady. That can only mean a lot of people are doing what they can to help.
The difficulties that face us as a community are not behind us. Not yet. Need for emergency food continues at record levels. But, I am very encourage by the generosity I see from among those who share this part of the Mid-Willamette Valley and who call it home.
I've long believed that if we want to see an end to local hunger, it will not be because of something the federal government does. And, it won't be because of the state government. No, if we want an end to local hunger, it will happen only when we-joining as a community-come together and make it happen.
It is the kind of deliberate determination typified in this quote attributed to Mother Teresa: "If you cannot feed a hundred, feed one."
If each of us takes that attitude to heart, then even in these difficult times, no one in our community will go hungry.
