Bend Food Project reaches 1 million pound milestone, one green bag at a time
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Bend Food Project, a nonprofit focused on alleviating food insecurity in Central Oregon, has hit a major milestone: the collection of a million pounds of food locally.
By contrast, their first collection event in October of 2015 collected just under 2,700 pounds of food.
“It’s an astonishing number,” said Larry Marceaux, of the Bend Food Project. “We never dreamed we could hit the 1 million pound goal so soon. Central Oregonians have been quick to volunteer, and donors have been very generous.”
One million pounds of food equates to serving 800,000 meals.
Donors are given a now ‘infamous green bag.” For two months, the donor keeps the bag in their pantry, and adds a can or two of non-perishable food after a trip to the grocery store. Every other month, a Neighborhood Coordinator picks up the bag from the front porch of the donor and transports the bags to a central location.
In 2015, the project was launched with 10 friends. Today, there are 240 Neighborhood Coordinators who collect food from 3,300 donors every other month. The growth in volunteers/donors is critical, as the numbers of people who are food insecure is up 30 percent in the last year.
“Our goal this year,” states co-founder Sue Marceaux, "is to grow our volunteer/donor base to keep up with the increasing need in our community. Given the nature of the U.S. economy, that need will only get larger.
Bend Food Project’s next Collection Event will be held on Saturday, October 8th, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Green Bags are delivered to a central location and sent from there to The Giving Plate distribution facility.
“We’re now aiming for that 2 million pound mark,” said Marceaux. “We’ve got a pretty impressive giving community here.”
