NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Northeastern Oregon food bank sees increase in demand
So far, local donation levels have not
changed.
By ISABELLA CROWLEY
The Observer
Across Oregon
LA GRANDE — More people
have been relying on the regional
food bank this spring in Union
County, mirroring the trend seen
across the state, according to the
Northeast Oregon Regional Food
Bank — a service of Community
Connection — and the Oregon Food
Bank.
Two types of food assistance
boxes are off ered by the regional
food bank: fresh food boxes and
traditional food boxes. Fresh food
boxes — produce boxes, harvest
share boxes or fresh alliance boxes
— can be picked up daily or weekly
depending on the location. Tradi-
tional food boxes, which include
shelf-stable items, are off ered only
once a month.
In Union County, the average
number of people accessing fresh
food services increased by 28% in
April and May compared to the aver-
age across January, February and
March. In comparison, traditional
food boxes increased by only 10%
in the same time frame.
“What this tells me is that people
are needing to access the food bank
more frequently,” said Audrey
Smith, regional food bank manager
for Community Connection of
Northeast Oregon.
Susannah Morgan, chief execu-
tive offi cer of the Oregon Food Bank,
told Oregon Public Broadcasting
the trend is due to two factors. First,
federal benefits provided during
the pandemic — stimulus checks,
expanded unemployment, addi-
This trend also has been seen
across the state.
“We are in a historic high for
hunger in Oregon,” Morgan said.
The pandemic increased the
number of people experienc-
ing hunger in the state. In 2019 —
prior to the pandemic — 860,000
people in Oregon and Southwestern
Washington asked for food at least
once during the year, according to
Morgan. This number nearly doubled
for 2020 — 1.7 million people —
and remained high in 2021 — 1.2
million people. At the start of 2022,
the number of people needing food
assistance seemed to be continuing
the downward trend, but recently that
has turned around and the number is
once more climbing.
Impact on the
Oregon Food Bank
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
The Northeast Oregon Regional Food Bank distribution center in Island City has a good stock of shelf-stable and
frozen foods Tuesday, June 28, 2022, according to the food bank’s manager. More people relied on food assis-
tance from food banks in April and May in comparison to January, February and March.
ties, there has been a 23% increase in
fresh food boxes and a 7% increase
in traditional food boxes.
Smith said more people access-
ing food assistance programs in the
spring is a fl ip from the usual trend.
Typically, more people access food
banks in December, January and
February when utility costs are
high, and the number of recipients
decreases at the start of spring.
tional money for the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program and
more — have been ending across the
county. The second factor is infl a-
tion, with rising food costs and gas
prices leading more people to need
assistance.
The regional food bank has seen
this trend in all of the counties it
supports — Baker, Grant, Union
and Wallowa. Across all four coun-
Forecast for Pendleton Area
| Go to AccuWeather.com
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Mostly sunny and
pleasant
Nice with plenty of
sunshine
A t-storm late in
the afternoon
A t-storm around
in the p.m.
A t-shower in spots
in the p.m.
86° 59°
90° 59°
89° 60°
91° 62°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
88° 62°
77° 55°
81° 58°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
90° 61°
80° 57°
84° 57°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
69/54
79/53
86/56
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
84/60
Lewiston
75/53
90/62
Astoria
65/55
Pullman
Yakima 87/57
77/51
87/60
Portland
Hermiston
81/57
The Dalles 89/60
Salem
Corvallis
78/51
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
82/55
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
80/52
84/51
85/53
Ontario
93/60
Caldwell
Burns
85°
56°
87°
55°
118° (2021) 44° (1964)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
79/51
0.00"
1.66"
0.63"
7.45"
2.46"
5.01"
Today
Medford
85/47
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
BAKER CITY — A
downtown Baker City busi-
ness is reviving a major
summer event that seemed
destined to be canceled for
the third straight year.
Sh a mele ss Te e s, a
screen-printing store at 1921
Main St., is coordinating
what it calls the Resurrection
Rally 2022.
The event, planned for
July 8-10, the weekend after
Independence Day, is intended
to bring hordes of motorcycle
riders back to Baker City.
The annual Hells Canyon
Motorcycle Rally, a tradition
for almost two decades that
attracted thousands of visi-
tors to the city, was canceled
in 2020 and 2021 due to the
pandemic.
In February of this year,
WSW 6-12
W 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
By IAN CRAWFORD
Baker City Herald
Mark Dukes, a partner in
High Desert Harley-David-
son of Meridian, Idaho, the
dealership that has orga-
nized the rally for the past
few years, said the business
wouldn’t be putting on the
rally in 2022.
Dukes said in February
that the issue this year isn’t
so much concerns about how
the pandemic would progress,
but a shortage of employees at
the dealership, and an Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion project to build more than
300 wheelchair-accessible
curb cuts in Baker City this
summer, including on Main
Street.
Dukes said his goal was to
bring the rally back in 2023.
But Shameless Tees wasn’t
content to wait another year.
“Baker loves the rally,”
said Brandy Bruce, who
works at the store. “So we’re
trying to bring it back.”
Although the Resurrection
Rally has been scheduled and
a website created — thebcmr.
com — organizers are still
seeking permission from
the city to close Main Street
during the weekend, as has
been done with past Hells
Canyon rallies.
Bruce said organizers have
talked with many downtown
business owners, and had
“an overwhelmingly positive
response” to the rally plans.
“We’re trying to get
through to the rest but I think
we have a majority,” she said.
The website has informa-
tion about camping options
for riders on a ranch in Keat-
ing Valley, as well as registra-
tion packets.
Bruce also said Ison
House and the Corner Brick
Grill are planning concerts
during the rally.
Fri.
E 3-6
NW 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
89/57
Baker City business working to
revive annual motorcycle rally
WINDS (in mph)
92/57
86/50
0.00"
2.16"
1.09"
10.82"
4.29"
7.93"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 79/50
81/55
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
86/59
90/62
82°
53°
84°
55°
117° (2021) 37° (1898)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
77/52
Aberdeen
81/57
84/60
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
75/56
Numbers for June will be avail-
able in early July, but the trend is
expected to hold, said Smith.
The regional food bank receives
weekly shipments from the Oregon
Food Bank, which is supplemented
by fresh produce donated by local
stores and farmers. Smith said that
the regional food bank has a good
stock of shelf-stable and frozen foods
at its new food distribution center.
The rising costs of food and
fuel have also directly impacted
the Oregon Food Bank. According
to Morgan, fuel costs are up 30%
and freight costs are up 16% since
December. On average, the food
bank is paying 12% more for food
purchases to keep up with demand.
“As a concrete example, pre-pan-
demic a truckload of peanut butter
cost about $34,000. That same truck
load today is well over $40,000,” she
said.
This trend has been seen through-
out the nation, but so far Oregon has
been able to meet the need with exist-
ing food assistance sites and supplies.
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:09 a.m.
8:48 p.m.
6:12 a.m.
10:31 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
July 6
July 13
July 20
July 28
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 113° in El Centro, Calif. Low 26° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
IN BRIEF
ODF begins fi re season in
Northeast Oregon District
LA GRANDE — Warming temperatures
and changing fuel conditions are prompting
the Oregon Department of Forestry to begin
fi re season on private forest lands in North-
east Oregon.
Fire season will be at 12:01 a.m. Friday,
July 1, for forest and range lands protected by
ODF Northeast Oregon District, according to
an announcement from the department.
“We’ve seen a little reprieve this spring and
early summer. Fire season has been announced
in June for the past few years, so it’s been good
to have some delay this year,” Matt Howard, an
ODF district forester, said.
The fire season declaration places fire
prevention restrictions on landowners and
the public. Additionally, fire prevention
regulations on industrial logging and forest
management activities are put into place.
Lands aff ected include private, state, county,
municipal and tribal lands in Union, Baker,
Wallowa and Umatilla counties along with
small portions of Malheur, Morrow and Grant
counties within the Northeast Oregon Forest
Protection District. This area encompasses
approximately 2 million acres of protected
lands.
“Those spring storms have provided some
much-needed moisture. However, this mois-
ture has caused a lot of growth in our fi ne
fuels, such as grasses, small brush and shrubs,”
Howard said. “These are often our carrier fuels
and are more susceptible to quickly drying and
becoming ready-to-burn faster.”
— EO Media Group
CORRECTION: The Page A3 story “Pendleton area students become grant
makers,” published Saturday, June 25, misstated a Nixyaawii Community School
student’s name on fi rst reference. Her name is Keyen Singer.
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you
notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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0s
showers t-storms
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rain
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flurries
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snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
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