ORCCA: Feed • House • Warm • Educate

Thanks to a partnership between Oregon Coast Community Action and Oregon Food Bank, food pantries and emergency meal sites all along the coast are getting a little extra help in feeding the hungry. Agencies all over Coos and Curry counties have received new appliances and thermometers that will not only help with their compliance of health regulations, but also increase their capabilities of serving food to the community.

Through their Network Support Fund, Oregon Food Bank was able to provide the South Coast Food Share, a program of Oregon Coast Community Action, with funds to purchase 8 freezers, 8 refrigerators, and 10 thermometers to help support its 32 partner agencies in Coos and Curry counties. The South Coast Food Share put in a request for these funds on behalf of the agencies.

Partner agencies are required to maintain adequate temperatures for any refrigerated and frozen foods they receive. Having working equipment is essential to being able to provide a large variety and nutritious items to families. Without the use of refrigerators and freezers, food pantries and emergency meal sites would be restricted to providing only non-perishable, dry goods. The appliances allow for the network's partner agencies to receive more nutritious and a larger variety of food through the Fresh Alliance program.

In addition to helping feed local families, the purchases allowed for a little local economy stimulation as all appliances were purchased locally. The appliances were purchased from 2 local stores, Bay Area Appliances and Farr's True Value.

For Kimmie Lopez, director of the Joseph Project in Powers, having her own appliances means she can now store more food. "Until now, we have been using the church's fridges and freezers to make up for a lack of space. These new appliances will be dedicated to only storing our food, which will make the whole process much more convenient."

The South Coast Food Share Network has received support from the Network Support Fund in the past. In fact, recently a set of appliances purchased through the Fund have cycled through the network, with a local Coos Bay food pantry donating their old ones to another Curry county agency that found themselves needing to store even more food.

Oregon Coast Community Action is a non-profit network of programs that help feed, house, warm and educate the communities of the South Coast. For more information, please call (541) 435-7080 or learn more at www.orcca.us.

Interviews Available: Becky Yaeger, South Coast Food Share

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