4A
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019
The Observer
On the Fence
What are the best steps to help hungry children in
Union County?
Elect Leaders who support Donate funds, items and
economic justice
time to local efforts
Polling shows Democrats, Independents,
Republicans, men, women and voters from
all parts of the country think that hunger
is a serious problem and are interested in
ending it. Many of us would even defi ne
ending hunger as a moral imperative.
Why then did more than 187,000
Oregon households experience “food
insecurity” and more than 81,000 of them
experience “very low food insecurity” on
average during 2016-2018?
Part of the answer is that many of our
neighbors live in households that are poor
and simply don’t earn or receive enough
income to afford to buy adequate food.
Oregon’s poverty rate in 2018 was 12.6%.
Oregon’s child poverty rate was 15.8%.
Employment at a living wage is the fi rst
line of defense against hunger.
Most Oregonians who are able to work
— who are not too young, too old, too ill —
are employed but are too often challenged
by costly housing, child care and other
expenses that compete with the purchase
of food.
Another part of the answer to why
people are hungry is, in the words of Art
Simon, that “hunger thrives on the racial,
social, and economic extremes that are
eating away at the soul of our nation and
are pulling us apart.” In “Silence Can Kill:
Speaking Up to End Hunger and Make
Our Economy Work for Everybody,” Simon
points out that millions of Americans
contribute to charity through soup kitch-
ens, food drives and pantries yet remain
enablers of hunger through their silence as
citizens. Government programs, he says, do
far more than charity does to erase hunger.
Can charity solve hunger? Let’s take a
look at Union County. What are we doing
to help hungry children? What else do we
need to do?
Community Connection of Northeast
Oregon is the regional food bank for four
counties. It distributes food to 18 food
banks and several harvest share and
fresh alliance sites. Its 2017 IRS 990 form
reports receiving $903,395 in in-kind
commodities, produce and Second Harvest
foods for distribution. Seven of those food
banks are in Union County. Let’s assume
$500,000 worth of food is distributed here
in Union County contributed through
Community Connection, the scouts, the
BILL WHITAKER
UNION COUNTY
PROGRESSIVES/DEMOCRATS
postal service and Les Schwab and other
food drives, our religious and social organi-
zations, back-pack programs, holiday food
baskets. A half-million dollars is a lot of
charity.
But charity alone cannot end hunger.
Charity must be partnered with justice
through the taxes we pay to fund public
anti-hunger programs. We do far more to
reduce hunger through our taxes — our
membership fees for participating in a just
society — than we can through individual
acts of charity.
Union County residents receive more
than $347 million dollars in federal food
assistance — school lunches, $115.5
million; school breakfasts, $38.7 million;
SNAP/food stamps, $78.1 million; summer
nutrition program, $5 million; WIC, $63.8
million; child and adult food care, $36.8
million; the emergency food assistance
program, $8.8 million; commodity supple-
mental food program, $0.6 million.
Ending childhood hunger in Union
County means making the United States
a nation in which all people have the
adequate and nutritious food they need.
This is an achievable goal. Important steps
include: (1) Creating jobs, raising wages,
increasing opportunity and sharing pros-
perity; (2) Improving government income-
support programs for struggling families;
(3) Strengthening SNAP and Child Nutri-
tion Programs; (5) Working with states,
localities and nonprofi ts to expand and
improve participation in federal nutrition
programs; and (6) Building political will.
Silence is a political act. We must reject
silence, speak truth to power and act on
behalf of hungry neighbors. Persons of good
will — that should be all of us — need to
choose active citizenship and work to end
hunger by electing leaders who support eco-
nomic justice, who strengthen rather than
shred social safety-net programs.
We know the outcome of elections has a
bigger impact on the poor than on the rest
of us. Knowing that makes voting to end
hunger a moral decision.
(All data are from the Food Research
and Action Center.)
There are excellent people in our town and
county. I’m sure you know that already, but I’d
like to introduce you to some more. I set out to
meet the people serving children in our area,
fi nd out what their challenges are, and how
we all can add to those efforts.
My fi rst stop was the Center for Human
Development. For those fallen on hard times
and particularly mothers with new infants
and very young children, this should be a fi rst
stop too. Located at the corner of Cove Ave
and North Albany, Street CHD provides many
health (physical and mental) and employ-
ment services, both free and with costs scaled
according to income. Carrie Brogoitti, CHD’s
public health administrator, wants to make
sure those with low incomes and children
younger than 5 know about the WIC (Women
Infants and Children) food and education
program. CHD also points people in the right
direction for resources available in the com-
munity.
How can we help? Center for Human Devel-
opment is a nonprofit, so funds are always ap-
preciated. Also, be sure to point people their way.
Across the street, consummate volunteer
Hanna Brandsma works the desk at Com-
munity Connection. Community Connection
is the hub for local food banks, distributing
commodities from the Oregon Food Bank and
the USDA as well as groceries donated by
local businesses. The organization offers mul-
tiple programs, some with no red tape around
income requirements. A list of food pantries
can be found at www.ccno.org.
One of Community Connection’s greater
issues is outgrowing the warehouse space, but
there are still specifi c things in short supply.
Hygiene items such as toilet paper, soap and
feminine care products are needed by most
people who need food, but those aren’t as obvi-
ous to most of us considering a donation. Just
about every provider I talked to expressed an
acute need for these things. Pantries have an
overabundance of food like beans and rice.
Often, people have a poverty of experience
cooking from scratch ingredients.
How can we help? Donate hygiene products
and can openers. Or donate your time. There
is a particular need for volunteers to heft
boxes around at the Harvest Share sites.
For helping children directly, the Friday
Backpack Program provides eligible grade
school children with food to see them through
the weekend. To help, contact the program at
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UNION COUNTY REPUBLICANS
fridaybackpack@gmail.com and go to www.
unioncountyfridaybackpack.org for a list of
desired goods.
Bill Grigsby, a professor at EOU, is quick to
praise current and former EOU students who
bootstrapped Haven from Hunger. Haven from
Hunger is focused on providing emergency
three-day food supplies. Haven also stocks the
food box outside the K-House and the food
bins at the entrance of Cook Memorial Library.
Beyond hunger, Grigsby aims to tackle food
insecurity, uncertainty about where one’s next
meal is coming from. Haven is making efforts to
change social factors causing people to hesitate
in taking what they need.
How can we help? Donate toilet paper, femi-
nine hygiene products, soap, shampoo, laun-
dry detergent and can openers. Grigsby has a
real vision for Haven as a student effort and
would like to see as many student volunteers
as possible. See Haven’s Facebook page (www.
facebook.com/groups/HavenfromHunger) or
call 541-786-3663.
Shelter From the Storm provides safety
and resources for those experiencing domestic
violence. The organization keeps a food bank
requiring no red tape for access and it serves
a broad group of people. Of the providers I
contacted, SFS is less in need of hygiene prod-
ucts (at least as far and soap and shampoo are
concerned) and more in need of food items.
How can we help? Right now SFS would
really like to see meat and frozen vegetables
in its pantry.
The most important “help” children receive
is from their parents. Next Step is, among
other things, a group of grandmas and expe-
rienced mothers who welcome and support
brand-new parents. The organization provides
prenatal and parenting education as well as
“Baby Bundles” and newborn supplies. The
Next Step folks want to make it clear that
they’re here for all new parents whether low
income or not.
How can we help? Next Step is in need of
toddler coats, diapers and blankets.
There are many more unsung heroes in
our midst. Wherever your passion to help,
there’s probably someone already there with
their hand to the plow. Come alongside and
strengthen their efforts.
STAFF
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