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Churches will take food to Klamath Benefit drive intended to aid farm families By MELISSA MARTIN Local churches will collect food and household items this month and truck them to Klamath County farmers to help during an economic crisis brought on by a water shortage. Perry Atkinson, general manager of Medford's KDOV radio, is spearheading the food drive. Some 60 churches in Jackson and Josephine counties may ask members to bring food and household items to church on Sunday, Aug. 12. Then Tiny Robertson of Tiny's Towing will donate the use of a Ryder truck to haul the items to the Klamath-Lake County Food Bank. KDOV is also working with the Klamath Disaster Resource Center, which local government leaders created last month in response to the farming crisis. Hundreds of farm workers are experiencing summer shortfalls after the federal government shut off irrigation canals to maintain Upper Klamath Lake water levels to protect the endangered sucker fish. On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Gale Norton authorized water releases in the canal, saying conservation by farmers and recent thundershowers made it possible to give some relief to farmers. The water likely will do nothing for dried-out fields of grain and potatoes but may help cattle ranchers green up pastures. When Atkinson mentioned the possibility of a local food drive on his Thursday morning radio show in Medford, dozens of people responded. "What we found out is people have been wanting to do something - they just didn't know what to do," said Atkinson, who met with White House staff members in Boston last week to talk about the farmers' plight. Just as churches will be responding with food, the political community may respond with cash, Atkinson hopes. He's organizing a different effort among members of Oregon Republicans to donate money to the farming crisis. "It will be a fund for farmers who need to pay their mortgages," he said. Food and household items can be dropped off at participating churches Sunday, Aug. 12. Churches will bring the donations to regional collection sites set up at Ashland Christian Fellowship in Ashland, First Baptist Church in Medford and KDOV Radio in Medford on Aug. 13-14. Robertson will haul the donations to Klamath Falls Aug. 15. For information, call KDOV at 776-5368. Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.