ROSEBURG, Ore. (KMTR) -- The FISH Food Pantry in Roseburg has been giving food to the needy since 1971, but a couple months ago they started a new campaign that has already helped feed hundreds of families.
The Roseburg Food Project is all about making giving a little easier. People volunteer to be neighborhood coordinators and give grocery bags to their willing neighbors. Those neighbors then spend two months filling the bag. Then the coordinators pick it up and take it to the pantry.
On their first pick-up date, the Roseburg Food Project brought in 1,400 pounds of food.
“In the last two months, we have advanced from eleven neighborhood coordinators to 45, which is an amazing thing,” says Karla Roady, Project Coordinator for the FISH Food Pantry. “And I think the reason it's so amazing is, everybody understands hunger.”
Roady says eight of those neighborhoods are actually businesses, with the employees acting as neighbors. She encourages all types of creative 'neighborhoods' to get involved.
The outcome so far has been great, but the need is still very high. Roady hopes to have 100 neighborhoods involved in the project by next June. That would mean about 1,000 filled bags from 1,000 neighbors going to the food pantry six times a year.
With recent cuts in federal funding, Roady says this project is helping ensure Roseburg families still get the food they need.
If you're interested in becoming a neighborhood coordinator, visit the
FISH of Roseburg website.
