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FOOD FOR HOPE Annual drive helps feed thousands of families in need Comment By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 24, 2014 at 12:01 AM By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 24, 2014 at 12:01 AM --> How you can help: • Fill up the grocery bag included in today's paper with nonperishable food items and deliver it to one of the following locations: any fire station or Um... » Read more X How you can help: • Fill up the grocery bag included in today's paper with nonperishable food items and deliver it to one of the following locations: any fire station or Umpqua Bank branch in Jackson County, Sherm's Thunderbird, Food 4 Less, Ascension Lutheran Church, Westminster Presbyterian Church, First Christian Church, St. Peter's Lutheran Church or Medford Congregational Church. Addresses for each drop spot are listed on the bag. • Donate cash. For every $1 donated, ACCESS can provide five meals. Mail donations to ACCESS Food Share, P.O. Box 4666, Medford, OR 97501. Pledge forms are also printed on the bags. » Social News Lola Smith, 74, gets a five-day supply of food every month from an ACCESS Inc. food pantry in Central Point and, with great frugality, manages to make it last the entire month. “I make my own bread and biscuits because it makes it go further, and we have soups and stews and beans,” she said Friday. “What we get from the food pantry helps us a whole lot. You can make beans, rice and pasta go a long way.” Smith began using the food pantry at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church about 10 years ago, after she quit work and volunteering at a local food pantry to care for her husband, who has had two open-heart surgeries and a knee surgery and survived a scary bout of bacterial endocarditis. “He got sick in 2011, and I almost lost him three times,” she said. The couple do not use food stamps but apply their meager retirement savings to their housing, medical bills and essentials. “We will take anything they (ACCESS) give us,” Smith said. Today ACCESS Inc. begins its 31st annual Food for Hope grocery bag drive with the hopes of collecting 30,000 pounds of food and $40,000 in donations — enough to access an additional 200,000 pounds of food. Each week, ACCESS’ 25 emergency food pantries distribute about 60,000 pounds of food to families and individuals living in Jackson County, said ACCESS Nutrition Programs Director Philip Yates. “We provide about a five-day supply of food for all members of a family, which averages out to about 60 to 65 pounds of food for a family of three,” Yates said. “People are asked to choose a pantry closest to where they live, and they may go 12 times a year,” he added. Last year, ACCESS served more than 23,000 individuals and, this year, has served 23,968 individuals so far. The food and cash donations collected over the holidays will, organizers hope, last through February, Yates said. ACCESS, in partnership with Oregon Food Bank, receives food donations from farms, retailers, the Food Project and distributors from around the country but also picks up items, such as protein and dairy foods, from local Ray’s, Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, Costco, Trader Joe's and Walmart locations. The annual holiday grocery bag drive, which kicks off today and ends Dec. 31, accounts for about 20 percent of ACCESS’ annual food drive donations. Brown paper bags can be found in today’s Mail Tribune and Ashland Daily Tidings. Readers are invited to fill the bags with nonperishables, such as cold and hot cereals, peanut butter, canned meats, pasta and canned goods, as well as hygiene products, such as shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes. “Because those things can’t be purchased with food stamps,” Yates said. Drop-off locations are printed on each bag and include any fire station or branch of Umpqua Bank in Jackson County, Food 4 Less, Sherm’s Thunderbird and five Medford churches. There are pledge forms on the bag for those who would like to make monetary donations. Like Smith, Naomi Joslin of Central Point stops by the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church food pantry monthly. The food supplements the state assistance she receives for the six foster children in her care. Joslin’s three grandchildren also live with her. “The volunteers are so sweet down there,” Joslin said. “They set aside cakes, cupcakes and cookies for the kids.” In 2009, Janis Hunt Johnson and her husband, who are both self-employed, lost more than half of their income as their customers disappeared or couldn't pay because of the recession. “When you've been brought up middle class, and then can’t be middle class anymore, that’s really tough,” Johnson said. ACCESS’ monthly food box wasn't enough to hold the couple over, so Johnson said she visited various church-sponsored food banks as well. As the economy improved, Johnson said she’s been able to reduce the number of trips she makes to the other food banks. “But even now, we just paid the mortgage but don’t have anything left for the weekend,” she said. Johnson said she tries to get her staples and treats — “because you can’t always buy those” — at God’s Food Pantry on West Main Street in Medford, where she also volunteers. On Friday, Navy veteran Jud Dikes also was at God’s Food Pantry, where he was waiting for his number to be called so he could fill a box. Dikes said he was looking for stuff to make meals, spaghetti specifically. “I love spaghetti with mushrooms and hamburger or sausage,” he said. Reach reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt . By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 24, 2014 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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