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48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, January 27, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 23, 2004 Ashland food bank benefits from ‘bet’ By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune ASHLAND — What started as bet a between friends turned into a windfall for the hungry Wednesday. The proof is the two food-laden trucks on the bricks of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a festive crowd spilling onto the street and Mayor-elect John Morrison judging a contest. It started when Tom Benoit and Ryan Folkstad made a friendly wager back in October. Each bet his fellow employees could raise more food and cash for the Ashland Emergency Food Bank than the other. Benoit is an assistant technical director at Ashland’s Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Folkstad is a purchasing agent at Professional Tool of Ashland, the company that makes the Drill Doctor. "We’re basically poker buddies," Folkstad says. "It was just us chewing the fat," Benoit says, "and talking about need in the community." Advertisement The Food Bank’s Nicki Stroo says this is a critical time. She had more than 150 requests for food in November, and since many came from families, the number of people served was higher that that. OSF employees have had an in-house drive to raise food and cash the past two winters, but this is the first time a challenge went out. Benoit and Nancy Zaremski, a supervisor in OSF’s costume shop, thought the competition might encourage folks to dig a little deeper. This year, OSF employees not only reached into their own pockets, they held a food drive at an Ashland grocery store. The Pro Tool people enlisted support from 10 other companies. With zero-hour at hand, each group has pulled a truck onto the bricks outside the OSF’s Elizabethan Theatre, a Shakespeare flatbed and Pro Tool’s enclosed rig. The OSF truck has 150 bags of groceries, the latter 100 bags and a large pallet of food not bagged up. "You can see the difference," Morrison says. "Drill Doctor has a pallet." Drill Doctor raised $400, but the theater people checked in with a check for $2,800. "It’s got to go to Shakespeare," Morrison says. "But the winners are the food bank and the citizens of Ashland." Stroo agrees. "This is going to start our winter off with a full bank," she says. For more on the Food Bank and its programs, call 488-3583. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers