Summer is here! It's a season full of fun and sunshine. Kids are out of school, which means no breakfast or lunch programs for those in our community who are food insecure. Summer is one of the most difficult times to feed everyone, and with food prices rising, it creates an increased demand for food banks and food pantries.
Tillamook County is home to two summer meal programs: Grub Club, which serves central Tillamook County, and Munch-A-Lunch, which serves northern Tillamook County.
See below for drop-off locations, times and details.
Now is the time to donate to food pantries and programs. Gardening enthusiasts, add another row to your garden and donate fresh vegetables to your local food programs.
There are many ways to ensure that no one goes hungry.
For more information on donating, visit https://give.oregonfoodbank.org/give/287613/#!/donation/checkout
Oregon Food Bank Food Finder: http://oregonfoodfinder.org/
Tillamook County, Oregon, is known for its cheese, but many of its residents struggle with food insecurity, a problem that's especially acute during the summer when children are out of school.
Levi Johnson is the operations manager for the Oregon Food Bank's Tillamook chapter. He says the breakfast and lunch students receive at school can sometimes be the only meal they get that day, and his organization works to fill those hunger gaps over the summer.
“We work with certain programs in the community,” Johnson said, “We call it the Summer Lunch Program, where we set up distribution sites to provide free lunches to students, to help them fill gaps and find a meal to get through the day.”
According to the Oregon Hunger Task Force, food insecurity levels in Tillamook County are higher than the state average, about 12 percent compared to about 10 percent.
Food insecurity among children in the county is even higher, at 19 percent.
The county is home to about 27,000 people. Johnson said because Tillamook County is rural, the biggest barrier for residents is distance.
“In many of our communities, it can take a 30-minute drive to get to the nearest emergency food box or meal distribution site,” Johnson said, “and many of the people we serve don't have that kind of transportation, so they have to walk or bike.”
Johnson said people can find local food sites at Oregonfoodfinder.org, which is available in 19 languages.
He said the biggest challenge for food facilities in Tillamook County is the need for more volunteers.
“A lot of the programs we've seen in the past few years have closed down simply because volunteers wouldn't show up to help out,” Johnson said, “so we're doing our best to get more people involved.”
