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Local food pantries face shortfall By Jonel Aleccia With the generosity of the holiday season still weeks away, food pantries throughout Jackson County are facing a serious shortage of staples for needy families, officials say. "We�re out of the publicly donated food,�� confirms Ben Benjamin, a coordinator for nutrition programs at ACCESS Inc. "We still have food boxes, but the boxes are smaller, about half the size." About 80,000 pounds of donated food from drives in December and May are all gone, leaving 16 food pantries that supply 90 percent of donations empty, he said. Some 1,500 families a month rely on emergency food boxes. To replenish them, ACCESS officials are launching a "Harvest of Food" starting today. Some 25,000 paper bags inserted in today�s issue of the Mail Tribune can be filled with non-perishable food items and dropped at donation sites from Oct. 9 to 20. Best foods to donate include the following: Canned meats and fish, 6- to 12-ounce size. Pasta, 12- to 16-ounce size. Cereal, oatmeal and unsweetened dry cereals, 18-ounce size. Soups, 11-ounce size. Milk, powdered and evaporated. Dinners, macaroni and cheese and others. Beans, dry and canned. Rice, 2 pounds. Tomato products. Household products. Hygiene products. Disposable diapers. Donations can be taken any weekday to city hall buildings in Butte Falls, Central Point, Eagle Point, Gold Hill, Jacksonville, Phoenix, Shady Cove and Talent. Other drop sites include the Ruch Country Store in the Applegate; the Ashland City utilities office, 20 E. Main St.; Grocery Outlet, 35 Stewart Ave., Medford; ACCESS Warehouse, 3630 Aviation Way, Medford; Salvation Army Family Service, 922 N. Central Ave., Medford; the Assembly of God Church, 140 Mill Creek Drive, Prospect; the Rogue River Community Center, 132 Broadway, Rogue River; the Rogue Family Center, 3131 Avenue C, White City. (The Butte Falls City Hall will accept donations from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.) The Harvest of Food is co-sponsored by Grocery Outlet and Acorn Press. For more information, contact ACCESS at 779-6691. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.