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Food bag collection starts today Some 39,000 brown paper grocery bags inserted in today's editions of the Mail Tribune could keep local families from going hungry this holiday season. The bags are part of ACCESS Food Share's 18th annual grocery bag drive, "Food for Hope," an event expected to raise 25,000 pounds of food and $25,000. Cash donations are especially helpful because organizers can provide 5 pounds of food for every dollar donated, said Philip Yates, ACCESS resource development manager. "But we still need food donations to replenish the shelves so that we can get through the winter months and provide food to hungry families and individuals through spring, when our next food drives happen." About 2,000 Jackson County families each month take advantage of emergency food boxes, which contain three- to five-day supplies of food, Yates said. The boxes are distributed through a network of 17 food pantries. Over the past year, demand for emergency food boxes has increased by 14 percent, Yates said. Grocery bags filled with non-perishable foods can be taken to any fire station in Jackson County, to five Medford churches listed on the bags, to the R-R-Rink ice skating rink or to the ACCESS offices, 3630 Aviation Way, Medford. Food that provides a source of protein are especially needed: peanut butter, canned meat and beans, as well as rice, pasta and cold and hot cereals. Checks made out to ACCESS Food Share can be sent to P.O. Box 4666, Medford, OR 97501. For information, call 779-6691. The "Food for Hope" drive is co-sponsored by ACCESS Food Share, Sherm's Thunderbird markets and the Mail Tribune. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.