It is official: the state of Oregon has the highest child food insecurity rate in the nation, 29.2 percent, according to the annually distributed Hunger Report.
With a 9.1 percent unemployment rate, things might not look that bad, but if you also factor in workers who have to settle for part-time jobs or have given up looking for a job altogether, that puts the number of people not making sufficient money at 20 percent.
Because of the recession, more and more people have been turning to different organizations for help. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also referred to as food stamps) is not available for all those who might need it.
Those attending school full time and unable to find a job, for instance, are ineligible for help with purchasing food. This results in turning to food banks.
In the 2010-11 fiscal year, for the first time ever, the Oregon Food Bank Network distributed over one million emergency food boxes.
The Network is comprised of over 20 regional food banks and partner food pantries all across Oregon. Thanks to the declining economy and the record amount of unemployment, more donated food was needed than ever.
If that's not close enough, the Marion-Polk County Foodshare did their part in the last year as well, distributing 7.6 million pounds of food. With that food, 88,742 boxes of food were given out.
Of the food distributed through the Marion-Polk County Foodshare, 44 percent of it goes to children. Out of the 150,000 pounds given out a week at the Marion-Polk Food Bank, that is a lot of food.
February is a hard month for food banks because it is directly after the "giving season" of Christmas. Donations come in en masse and then peter out directly afterward.
Former Oregon State Governor Victor Atiyeh established the Oregon Food Share, the nation's first statewide food bank, in 1979. This was necessary because the state was beginning to lose food stamp benefits (now referred to as SNAP).
In 1982, Atiyeh started the Governor's State Employee Food Drive, which calls on every governmental agency in the state to host a food drive for the month of February.
The food drive kicks off on Jan. 30 all across the state at multiple government agencies—including universities like Western.
Each type of agency is separated into a team. The Oregon University System (OUS) is team six—which Western is a part of. All the teams in the state compete against each other to raise the most amount of food in the drive.
The members of the teams also compete against each other. For the past seven years, Western has raised the highest amount of food in team six. Oregon State University has been the second every time.
"Western is trying to be great, and make it to eight," Debbie Diehm said, Assistant to the Vice President of Student Affairs.
She is one of the four campus wide coordinators for the food drive at Western, including Deb Charlton, of the Graduate Office; Brian Sly-Haley, of the Department of Extended Programs; and Lisa Catto, in Public Relations.
Last year, Western collected 238.48 pounds of food per employee. The food drive also takes cash donations—one dollar equals five pounds of food. Of the 138,840 pounds of food Western collected in total, 36,000 of it was actual food; the rest was money.
Not only will there be boxes and bins in which to deposit non-perishable foods such as boxed and canned food, employees will have the option to make a small donation every month for a year.
This is a part of the Governor's Challenge, in which Kitzhaber asks employees to donate 12 dollars a month either from their salary or their bank account, in a total of 144 dollars for the year.
Employees will also have the chance, Catto said, to declare to Western if they are already donating to local food banks—this will be added to Western's total for the food drive.
Catto, as a part of her duties as a Campus Coordinator, is working to launch a website for Western's participation in the food drive.
"The purpose of the website," she said, "is to have campus-specific information and resources all in one place."
On the website will be links to the Governor's State Employees Food Drive webpage, links to the forms needed to make cash donations (or declare previously made ones), a link to a calendar Catto made in Google Docs announcing events and dates for the food drive, and links to Sustainer forms for students to also make cash donations to the drive.
There will also be a list of FAQs about hunger in Oregon in order to raise awareness about what is happening in the state with the recession and the unemployment rate as high as it is.
"It is great that the campus can come together in time of need," Catto said excitedly, when talking about the drive.
When the drive kicks off of Jan. 30, take a look around for the posters and the boxes. Anything can help. If money cannot be spared, even a few cans from the cupboard can make a difference.
Any information about the food drive can be found at www.oregon.gov/fooddrive.
On Jan. 30, Western's webpage about their contribution to the drive will be accessible at www.wou.edu/events/fooddrive/index.php
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