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Food bank demand soars Cold weather, job losses boost needs in Ashland ASHLAND - Winter weather and a chilly job market have dramatically boosted demand for services at the Ashland Emergency Food Bank. Requests for food are up 24 percent over last year, said Joan Dean, president of the food bank's board of directors. The agency served more than 2,500 people in the first half of 2001. The spike in demand began at the end of summer and has soared, Dean said. In September, for instance, the agency served 69 children alone. The number grew to 139 in October. "In October and November, there have just been a lot of layoffs," Dean said. "You've got a lot of families living on the edge." Unemployment in Jackson County was 5 percent in October, up from 3.7 percent the previous year, according to state economist Guy Tauer. It was lower than the October state average of 6.5 percent. Since then, unemployment has risen to 7.4 percent statewide, but new county figures won't be released until Thursday, Tauer said. Food bank clients from Ashland and Talent typically receive boxes of nutritionally dense, nonperishable food. Donations needed include canned soups, fruit, chili or stew, peanut butter, soy and rice milk and boxed rice and noodle mixes. Collection barrels are in Ashland at the Ashland Family YMCA, the Daily Tidings newspaper, Bi-Mart, the Hardwood Gallery on the Plaza, Edward Jones, the Ashland Community Food Store and the Jewelry Studio. Some elementary schools are also collecting food. The food bank is open from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at 144 N. Second St. Checks can be mailed to that address. For more information, contact Dean at 482-7350. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.