Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 20, 2017 7A
Perrydale FFA annual food drive grows
Project collects 350,000 pounds of food for those in need from Dallas to Coos Bay
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
PERRYDALE — Food col-
lections for the annual Food
For All drive, spearheaded by
Perrydale FFA, was nearing
350,000 pounds last week.
Students at the school
and the drive’s community
partners are working
through this week to distrib-
ute the food to where it is
needed — from Dallas to
Coos Bay.
For weeks, the school’s
shop is a bustling hub of
food deliveries and students
packing pallets of fresh fruit
and vegetables into pack-
ages suitable for food boxes.
Once that is finished,
trucks haul the packaged
food to churches, service
clubs, holiday food programs
and food banks to give to the
needy this Christmas.
“It’s true hands-on, expe-
riential learning happening,
and through that, they are
giving to their community
and their state,” said Christi-
na Lorenz, the agricultural
teacher and FFA advisor for
Perrydale. “Most of the food
stays local, going to commu-
nity outreach groups that
normally wouldn’t have ac-
cess to food.”
She said the drive has
three new partners this year:
The Dallas, Central and
Stayton FFA chapters. They
joined Perrydale, Yamhill-
Carlton, Amity, Willamina,
and Sheridan FFA chapters.
Lorenz said Les Schwab
partnered with Oregon FFA
to collect food this Christmas.
“Their involvement and
partnership with FFA has re-
ally encouraged more par-
ticipation in the project,”
she said. “Every chapter is
matched up with a Les
Schwab store, so it’s a cool
way to get kids connected
with businesses in our area.”
Food For All developed a
model in which students
don’t just collect the food,
but also solicit donations
and assistance from farm-
ers, food processing compa-
nies and trucking outlets.
“The students get to meet
with those industry profes-
sionals, including CEOs of
these companies, and make
their presentation. It’s a real-
ly neat opportunity for them
to put into practice what
they are learning in the
classroom, when it comes to
public speaking, when it
comes to pitching their
ideas, answering questions,”
Lorenz said. “They’re really
seeing the big picture of
what they are doing and all
the stuff that it takes to com-
plete a large project.”
Former Perrydale agricul-
tural teacher and FFA advi-
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Students with Perrydale FFA put together food pallets to distribute to Oregon’s hungry this Christmas.
sor Kirk Hutchinson still
leads the charge on Food
For All as its volunteer direc-
tor, Lorenz said.
“Without him, I want to
say it wouldn’t be possible,”
Lorenz said. “He puts a
tremendous amount of time
and money into this pro-
gram. The Lower Willamette
FFA District is just very
thankful for his contribution
and the time he’s willing to
put into developing stu-
dents and giving back to his
state.”
Please join us for
Christmas Eve
Candlelight
Service
at 6pm
The Christmas Eve
Candlelight Service will
start at 7:00 pm
Special
Presentation of
The New Year's Eve Party
will be at 7:00 pm.
Bring your favorite games
and snacks.
Christmas Across
America
for Kids age 5+
Nursery and toddler
care available for
children under age 5.
Dallas First Christian Church
1079 SE Jefferson St.,
Dallas • 503-623-2569
First Baptist Church of Independence
Family Worship & Children’s Sunday School 11 AM
1505 Monmouth St., Independence
503-838-1001
(Across from Central High School)
Christmas Eve
Candlelight Service
7:00 pm • December 24
A traditional service of carols, special music
and candle light for the whole family!
565 SE LaCreole Drive • 503-623-2481
dallasumc@questoffice.net • www.umcdallas.com
Join us for Christmas Eve Day
Sunday Service
December 24th
10:30 am
119 E Main St, Suite 200, Monmouth
For more info call Tami 541-990-5551
www.facebook.com/experiencetheedge/