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ACCESS food drive off to slow start Hurricane Mitch, Boise Cascade may have stretched pocketbooks By BILL VARBLE The holiday food bag at ACCESS isn't empty, but it isn't exactly bulging, either. Giving to ACCESS's December food drive is lagging this year in food and cash, ACCESS resource development manager Philip Yates said Tuesday. "It seems to be really slow," he said. "We don't know why." The drive started Nov. 30 and runs through Dec. 31. The goals are $15,000 and 35,000 pounds of food. But cash donations through Tuesday totaled only about $5,020, and only about 6,500 pounds of food had been collected as of Tuesday, Yates said. "They should have 10 or 15 thousand pounds of food right now," he said. Making the numbers even scarier is the fact that the month traditionally starts off with a bang and then slows down. "We're really lagging," Food Share manager Ben Benjamin said. This is the 15th year for the ACCESS- and Mail Tribune-sponsored drive. Grocery bags went out in Mail Tribune newspapers Nov. 30. After they've been filled with donated food, the bags can be delivered to any Jackson County fire station, to Sherm's Thunderbird or Food 4 Less stores in Medford or to any of a number of churches. For details or more information, call 779-6691. Yates said the food drive the past few years has raised about 30,000 pounds of food each year. This year's goal is higher because a Boy Scout food drive held the weekend before Thanksgiving -- one of the main drives that annually benefits ACCESS -- also fell short of expectations. "It was pouring rain that weekend, and we think that really affected pickup and donations," Yates said. He said ACCESS officials hope to make up the shortfall in the Boy Scout drive with the grocery bag drive. From mid-October through the end of December, ACCESS usually collects some 70,000 or 80,000 pounds of food, Yates said. He said there's been a shift in the ACCESS-Mail Tribune drive since the mid-1980s. Most people gave food when it started, he said, but these days more people are giving cash. He said ACCESS provides about four pounds of food to the needy for each dollar it receives. In addition to the bags, ACCESS has been seeking donations through classified and display advertising. The Medical Eye Center of Medford has also been asking for donations in the drive. The food collected goes to people who seek emergency food through the ACCESS Food Share network, including food pantries and agencies such as the Salvation Army, Dunn House, OnTrack and others. The slow start this month has Yates and Benjamin scratching their heads for explanations. Benjamin speculated that the Boise Cascade fire and Hurricane Mitch may have strained some pocketbooks. Many Rogue Valley families gave to relief efforts for hurricane victims, and to help families who lost jobs in the fire that destroyed a Boise Cascade plant in Medford. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA