BottleDrop activates emergency fund, donates $30,000 to help Oregon nonprofits providing food access

Update: Adding video

CLACKAMAS, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, operator of the BottleDrop network, is activating its Emergency Fund to aid with emergency food access in Oregon and is inviting Oregonians to support the effort through container donations or direct contributions via their BottleDrop accounts.

To kick off the campaign, OBRC donated $30,000 from its Emergency Fund to 12 nonprofits providing food assistance to Oregonians. OBRC’s Emergency Fund will also match up to $35,000 in total donations made via BottleDrop through Nov. 30.

Donations made to the OBRC Emergency Fund will be directed to the following nonprofit organizations providing vital food access to Oregonians in need:

· Eastern Oregon Mission – Agape House

· FOOD for Lane County

· Food Share of Lincoln County

· Josephine County Food Bank

· Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank

· Marion Polk Food Share

· NeighborImpact

· Oregon Food Bank

· Rogue Food Unites

· Sunshine Division

· The Breadbasket Emergency Food Center

· The Giving Plate

The state of Oregon estimates that more than 750,000 Oregonians enrolled in the government-run Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — more commonly known as SNAP— are at risk of losing their benefits due to the federal government shutdown. More than half are children, seniors or people with disabilities. On October 29, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek declared a statewide food security emergency.

“At Food Share of Lincoln County, we’re deeply grateful to BottleDrop and the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative for their incredible generosity and commitment to fighting hunger across Oregon,” said Nancy Mitchell, Executive Director of Food Share Lincoln County. “Their $30,000 kickoff donation and matching funds will help turn bottles and cans into nutritious meals for families, seniors, veterans and individuals in need."

“OBRC is proud to step up and help,” said Devon Morales, vice president of external affairs for OBRC. “BottleDrop customers are incredibly generous and rise to the occasion to help their neighbors during times of urgent need, which is why we are activating our OBRC Emergency Fund to match donations from customers made through BottleDrop. We know that thousands of Oregonians, including children and seniors, rely on SNAP, and we want to support nonprofit organizations across the state who are providing direct food access during this uncertain time.”

Between now and Nov. 30, BottleDrop is encouraging its more than 1-million-member strong Green Bag account network to make online donations from their BottleDrop accounts to bolster food access efforts in Oregon.

Customers can direct their donations to the Emergency Fund by logging into their account and visiting bottledrop.com/food or donating directly at this link. OBRC will match up to $35,000 of total donations made through BottleDrop to the OBRC Emergency Fund.

Oregonians can also donate their OR-10 cent redeemable cans and bottles directly to this effort and have their funds matched by taking them to one of the 27 full-service BottleDrop Redemption Centers and letting staff know they would like to donate their redeemable beverage containers to support food access.