2008 Woodie Awards
Western employees top food donations
For the fourth straight year, Western faculty and staff have donated more food per person than any other school in the Oregon University System (OUS)
Jeffrey Sawyer
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Headlines
Western employees have come out on top once again for food donations during the Governor's State Employees' Food Drive.
Western has been donating more food per person than the eight other OUS institutions since 2004. Western employees donated 108.7 pounds per person and were followed in second by OSU with 88.9 pounds per person.
Marsha Smith, the Property Specialist of the Physical Plant who co-coordinated the drive with Deb Charlton, Adminstrative Assistant to the Vice President and Debbie Diehm, Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs, believes that part of the reason Western is so successful is that "the donations go to the Ella Curan Food Bank in Independence, directly to the local community."
Western's 725 employees donated a total 78,837 pounds of food. This number is figured by adding food and money donations together. Every dollar donated equals five pounds of food. For example, an employee donating $100 would be considered to have donated 500 pounds of food.
In the past eight years, Western's overall contribution has raised from about 13,000 pounds to the current number of over 78,000 according to Smith.
Governor Ted Kulongoski challenged state employees to donate or pledge at least $120 during the food drive. Thirty-five Western employees were awarded with a certificate for meeting the Governor's challenge, which was also highest in the state.
Charlton stated that students have been involved over the past few years with the food drive as well. Bins were set up in the residence halls for donations made by students. Students have also been involved in collecting the donated food, as well as fundraising.
In Western's official donation tally, student donations are also counted. However, even if student contributions were taken out of the total, Western would still come out on top with just over 100 pounds of food per employee.
The food donated during the food drive goes to fill emergency food boxes that are distributed to families and individuals. These boxes usually include a wide assortment of different foods. A typical box will include two servings of vegetables, one meat item, cheese, powdered milk, a bag of Kettle Chips (donated by Kettle Foods) and coffee.
The box of food is not meant to feed a person for an extended period of time. The box usually is enough to tide an individual over for a few days until they can either receive food stamps or find other ways of getting the food they need.
Deb Charlton said that over 90 percent of Western's donations go directly to the Ella Curan Food Bank. •
Western has been donating more food per person than the eight other OUS institutions since 2004. Western employees donated 108.7 pounds per person and were followed in second by OSU with 88.9 pounds per person.
Marsha Smith, the Property Specialist of the Physical Plant who co-coordinated the drive with Deb Charlton, Adminstrative Assistant to the Vice President and Debbie Diehm, Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs, believes that part of the reason Western is so successful is that "the donations go to the Ella Curan Food Bank in Independence, directly to the local community."
Western's 725 employees donated a total 78,837 pounds of food. This number is figured by adding food and money donations together. Every dollar donated equals five pounds of food. For example, an employee donating $100 would be considered to have donated 500 pounds of food.
In the past eight years, Western's overall contribution has raised from about 13,000 pounds to the current number of over 78,000 according to Smith.
Governor Ted Kulongoski challenged state employees to donate or pledge at least $120 during the food drive. Thirty-five Western employees were awarded with a certificate for meeting the Governor's challenge, which was also highest in the state.
Charlton stated that students have been involved over the past few years with the food drive as well. Bins were set up in the residence halls for donations made by students. Students have also been involved in collecting the donated food, as well as fundraising.
In Western's official donation tally, student donations are also counted. However, even if student contributions were taken out of the total, Western would still come out on top with just over 100 pounds of food per employee.
The food donated during the food drive goes to fill emergency food boxes that are distributed to families and individuals. These boxes usually include a wide assortment of different foods. A typical box will include two servings of vegetables, one meat item, cheese, powdered milk, a bag of Kettle Chips (donated by Kettle Foods) and coffee.
The box of food is not meant to feed a person for an extended period of time. The box usually is enough to tide an individual over for a few days until they can either receive food stamps or find other ways of getting the food they need.
Deb Charlton said that over 90 percent of Western's donations go directly to the Ella Curan Food Bank. •
Be the first to comment on this story