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Food drive heads to Klamath Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming From left, Bob Koser, a Eagle Point rancher, and Kearn Estes of Central Point load up a truck with donated food. The truck will head out today for Klamath Falls, where it will help stock food bank shelves in the region hit hard by drought and the federal government's irrigation water shutoff. Churches fuel convoy with aid for farm families By MELISSA MARTIN A convoy filled with food will rumble down the highway today to help feed farm families left cashless and jobless by the Klamath Basin's water shortage. Two moving vans filled with food donated by local residents are scheduled to arrive today at the Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank, where requests for help have jumped from 5,000 to 9,000 in the past month. "This will be absolutely fantastic," said food bank director Niki Sampson. "I'm so happy when people outside the area take a genuine interest in what's going on here." Members of 60 Rogue Valley churches donated food and supplies, such as toilet paper and toothpaste, to the Klamath Falls farmers and agricultural workers, said Perry Atkinson, manager of KDOV radio station, the food drive's sponsor. Boxes stacked in the studio's hallways and offices were loaded in trucks Tuesday. "I was overwhelmed by the response," said Tiny Robertson, owner of Tiny's Towing, the Medford business that is donating trucks, fuel and drivers. "We need to have compassion for others; that's what the Christian community is all about." Hundreds of farm workers and landowners are experiencing tough times after the federal government closed irrigation canals to keep enough water in Upper Klamath Lake water to protect the endangered sucker fish. Recently, Interior Secretary Gale Norton authorized water release into the canals, saying conservation by farmers and July thundershowers made it possible to give some relief to farmers. But the water does little to save dying grain fields or lost farm jobs. "When you live paycheck to paycheck like most farm workers do and when your job is cut from 10 hours a day to two, you can't even meet basic needs," Sampson said. The food bank this past month has provided weekly groceries for 875 families who have lost agricultural jobs or hours. Since it takes 25,000 pounds of food to feed 600 families for four days, food bank leaders estimate they will need 1 million more pounds of food to get through the winter. They expect to hand out 2.33 million pounds of food by spring. Right now, most of the new food requests are from farm workers, many of whom are longtime Klamath Basin residents with tiny savings accounts and monthly home mortgages, she said. "When you make between $6.50 and $10 an hour and you lose your job, it doesn't take but a couple of weeks and your life is turned upside down." But the second wave of requests will come from people in businesses that are beginning to feel the loss of farming dollars, like coffee shop owners, hairdressers, Wal-Mart employees and others, Sampson predicts. The final wave will be landowners who may be standing in a food line for the first time ever. "It's difficult for farmers in this community to ask for help," Sampson said. The solution is not as simple as moving to the city, partly because property values have plummeted in the last five months, Sampson said. Farm land valued at $2,000 an acre before the April 6 water cut-off is now worth about $500 an acre, she said. "It's really sad," Sampson said. "These people have had the rug pulled out from under them." 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.