AUGUST 18, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
Doling out hope one food box at a time
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
I’m helping my third cli-
ent of the Keizer Community
Food Bank (KCFB) collect
items for a food box when I
notice that we’ve run out of
laundry detergent.
It’s not an absolute neces-
sity, but it’s not the only thing
that’s disappeared. There wasn’t
much bar soap to begin with,
ranch dressing is dwindling
and the quarts of 1 percent
milk left can be counted on
one hand.
My third client of the night
means we’ve only helped about
a dozen of the 20 families
waiting for food boxes. There’s
plenty of bread and even fresh
fruit and vegetables still avail-
able, but it’s the extra items that
can add a lot to a grocery bill
I wish the food bank had in
greater supply.
It’s Monday, Aug. 14, and it is
not the fi rst time I’ve “muled”
for KCFB. “Mules” are the
food bank lingo for the vol-
unteers that help clients collect
items for their food boxes and
then assist them with loading
into their vehicles. I sincerely
doubt it will be my last time.
Tonight the members of the
Keizer City Council and City
Recorder Tracy Davis visited
for a tour of the facility. Da-
vis, Councilor Roland Herrera
and Mayor Cathy Clark stayed
for volunteer shifts. No one
asked me to stay, but I’ve seen
the work that this food bank
does, talked with volunteers
and directors past and present,
volunteered alongside them,
and come to realize that what
happens here is less about food
and more about hope.
Even so, it’s been a time
of change for the food bank
and for clients, says Rev. Curt
McCormack, the director of
KCFB, a interfaith collabora-
tion of fi ve Keizer churches.
“Right now our numbers
are down over last year, we
used to see about 220 families
a month and now it’s about
175. The difference is we are
seeing more new clients each
month,” he says.
He’s uncertain how to in-
terpret the data. It could mean
that some families are fi nding
jobs easier to come by, but it
seems that others (maybe those
in other industries) are fi nding
themselves in need for the fi rst
time.
On the other hand, there is
a healthy amount of food on
the pantry shelves. In the past,
I’ve seen it as bare as a few cans
and boxes per shelf. There are,
of course, needs. Canned fruit
or pre-packaged cups of fruit
or applesauce are always hard
to come by here. Those items
are often more expensive per
ounce than canned vegetables
or proteins.
KCFB gets about 80 per-
cent of the food it provides to
families from the Marion-Polk
Food Share, another 5 percent
is donated directly to the food
bank, which is housed at Faith
Lutheran Church on River
Road North. The remainder
is purchased with fi nancial do-
nations, and McCormack can
purchase about $3 worth of
food and other items for ev-
ery $1 in donations. Recently,
it’s become more important to
have the fi nancial donations to
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
ABOVE: Margi Harp and Kris-
tina DeWitt pack food boxes
in the Keizer Community
Food Bank pantry. RIGHT:
Sherry Lowells and Dr. Marie
Peck fold T-shirts donated by
the Salem Bicycle Club.
purchase specifi c items when
the food bank runs low.
“There are times when we
have more rice than we can
give away, but it’s a low rice
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time right now,” McCormack can have one more day when
life in general is less of a strug-
says.
The food bank also deals gle.
Visiting a food bank for
with an unpredictable sched-
ule in terms of orders from the fi rst time is likely a pride-
the Marion-Polk Food Share, shattering choice for anyone,
which are completed two but what has always impressed
weeks before a truck deliv- me is the collective character
ers it, and needs of clients that of the volunteers who wel-
come them into the fold with-
change from week-to-week.
McCormack could take ad- out judgement or pity and do
vantage of a local cannery that their best to send them on their
will sell canned food cheap in way able to hold their heads a
little
higher
bulk, but he
than when they
would have
came in.
to buy it by
As a vol-
the pallet and
unteer, being
then fi gure
around others
out how to
so willing to
transport it to
see the best in
Faith Luther-
every person
an and store
feels like re-
it until it is all
demption for
given away.
some of the
“ T h a t ’s
other horrors
why
dol-
the world foists
lar donations
upon us. That’s
work
bet-
what keeps me
ter. We can
coming back. I
buy what we
need when — Rev. Curt McCormack suspect the ex-
perience is the
we need it
same for others,
and the dol-
lar goes a lot further,” McCor- and it’s a huge return on a $1
investment.
mack says.
For more information on do-
I don’t feel like it’s a stretch
to say that those dollars buy nating to KCFB, call 503-871-
hope. Food on the table or less 9100. Sustainable giving options
stress around it means families are available.
“There are
times when
we have more
rice than we
can give away,
but it’s a low
rice time right
now.”
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