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Food supplier for poor runs short ACCESS might have to cut back on portions By John Darling ACCESS Inc., Jackson County�s chief supplier of food for low-income households, is coming up "desperately" short midway through its winter food drive. ACCESS is urging county residents to fill grocery bags or the food bags delivered in the Mail Tribune two weeks ago and to deliver them to drop-off places as soon as possible. Residents may also send checks; ACCESS can buy food at a rate of 5 pounds per dollar, said Ben Benjamin, coordinator of the Foodshare Program. Two weeks after the food drive began, ACCESS has reached only 20 percent of its 25,000-pound food goal and only 25 percent of its $5,470 money goal, which it needs to get through the winter, said resource development director Philip Yates. The drive ends Dec. 31. "It�s very urgent," said Benjamin. "We�re desperately in need of food donations to get us through the winter and to allow us to serve some 2,000 low-income households." "We�re seeing a 32 percent increase in the need for emergency food," said Yates. "If we don�t reach these goals, we could be facing an early shortfall in February." If a shortfall happens, Benjamin said, ACCESS will keep giving out food boxes until the next drive in May, but people will get less food per box. Boxes currently last three to five days. Area residents are asked to donate nonperishable food, such as canned meat and fish, rice, pasta, beans, cold and hot cereals and peanut butter, said Yates. Food may be dropped off at Sherm�s Thunderbird Market, 2347 Jacksonville Highway; Food 4 Less, 2230 Biddle Road; at any of five churches listed on the donation bags; at any fire station; or at ACCESS, located behind Costco. Money donations may be mailed to ACCESS Foodshare, P.O. Box 4666, Medford, OR 97501. Further information is available from Benjamin at 774-4322. Part of the reason for increased demand, Benjamin said, is that ACCESS now allows low-income families to get one food box a month, up from its previous one box about every two months. "The old level just wasn�t realistic," Benjamin said. ACCESS served 5,563 boxes in the third quarter of this year, compared to 3,792 in the same quarter last year. At current levels, ACCESS is distributing about 1,900 food boxes a month. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.