Sisters Food Bank struggling with low holiday donations

So far, falling well short of $10,000 needed for Christmas program

SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Sisters Food Bank has been helping families in need through its Christmas program since the 1980s. This year, however, it’s struggling to pull together the necessary donations.

Doug Wills, president of the Sisters Food Bank, said Thursday evening the program costs around $10,000. With just a few weeks left before Christmas, he said, the food bank is still less than 50% of the way there.

Wills said in the past, the organization has received generous donations from people in the community of up to $25,000. Those people, though, have either moved out of the state, or reduced their donation.

He said that's left the food bank scrambling to support such an impactful program.

"It gives them something to look forward to for Christmas,” Wills said. “You know, they're really happy. We see smiles on their faces and, quite frankly, it gives us a case of the 'feel goods.' They feel good, because they're able to get what they need for their family to have a nice meal."

Wills said the program helps provide a Christmas dinner for around 175 families.

The food bank hands out vouchers to the families, which they can then take to Food 4 Less in Bend to pick up any meal items they want.

In order to participate, the families fill out an application by Dec. 13, and pick up a certificate voucher by Dec. 21.

NewsChannel 21 asked Wills what his plan is if the food bank falls short of its goal.

"Well, we'd dip into our cash reserve, which we don't want to have to do, but we can do that,” Wills said. “Hopefully, the rest of the year we can scramble and get that re-covered, too. We'll do the program. It's not that we're not going to do the program, but it would just make it a lot easier on us if we had the money up front to do it."

You can visit https://sisterskiwanis.org/donate/ to donate.