Local food banks benefit from $8 million from state

Access in Medford, Josephine County Food Bank, Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank

Right now -- some families and individuals are struggling to put food on the table because of loss of income due to the coronavirus.

Yesterday governor brown announced that oregon will provide 8-million dollars to the oregon food bank.

The o-b-f network includes 21 regional food banks -- including access here in medford, one in josephine county, and the klamath-lake counties food bank.

Tonight we're joined by chris bosse with the access food bank.

Thank you for being with us tonight.

Thank you so much for having me.

So i know this is still sort of in the developing stages.

Tell me a little bit about how this money is going to be used when it arrives, you're sure.

Yeah, so we just found out the news yesterday.

The oregon food bank is going to be receiving $8 million.

And so, um, the, the money will be coming into a through oregon food bank for the next eight weeks.

Um, we're not exactly sure how much exactly access and the other local, uh, regional food banks are going to be receiving at this time.

Uh, but they did just let us know this morning that we could start making purchase this promote for companies.

Oh, look, we own companies and, um, uh, also, uh, local farmers as well.

So i assume you gotta be little conservatives.

They don't know what the budget is quite yet.

Um, you know, we, we always are, uh, tried to spend the money as wisely as possible.

Um, we were, we haven't been given a, a total dollar amount yet, but we will spend it as wisely as we can.

What types of things will this allow you to do that you might not have been able to do before this announcement?

Sure.

Yeah.

So the, the funds that are coming in from, uh, from the state are, uh, to be spent strictly on, uh, food, food items. so, um, what we're allowed, what this allows us to do is, um, uh, purchase from local farms to help, uh, um, stabilize our local economy.

I know that you guys have seen a dramatic increase since the pandemic and stayed home orders will put in place.

Can you give us idea of exactly how much your demand is increased.

Sure every week.

It seems to be going up by about five to 10%.

Uh, so currently, um, over the course of the, since we started over a month ago, um, we've seen it over a 30% increase in people needing assistance.

Epstein, how was access working to make sure not only the people you serve are safe, but the people who are volunteering at your food bank are safe as well.

Sure, sure.

Yes.

Uh, we, we've taken, um, um, a lot of safety precautions.

Uh, one when, one drastic measure that we took was we closed down most of our, uh, medford pantries because of the volunteers at those pantries are in a, uh, in the age group that makes them most susceptible to contracting, uh, the copa virus.

So what we've decided to do was build our own boxes.

And by we're doing that, we're wearing gloves, mass, and we're sanitizing the surfaces, uh, throughout the day.

And so, um, so, but this is allowed us to do is allow the, uh, the volunteers to stay at home, uh, during this time and allowed for employees here at access to be able to distribute the food outdoor.

Can you give us an idea of the number of people that you're serving?

You said the percentage is up, but what does that correspond to in terms of families and, and just human beings?

Sure.

Um, you know, we're, we're steadily approaching over 2000 families every week.

Right now.

Has that changed?

Are you always seeing that number high, a number of families versus individuals?

Uh, oh yeah.

It has changed quite a bit.

Um, like i said, uh, just a few minutes ago, it's about a 30% increase in, uh, uh, the amount of families that we're serving right now.

So typically, uh, it would be somewhere around 12 to 1300 families.

And now that we're, uh, now we're steadily getting closer to the 2000 family lives.

There have been stories nationwide about some concerns about the food network, the food chain, getting food from producers to folks like you and ro and restaurants, uh, that can provide it and that sort of thing.

Are you having any trouble getting the items you need to provide for the folks that you serve?

You're sure?

Uh, the, the logistics of getting the food up to oregon food bank is posing to be somewhat of a challenge.

Um, but it is coming in very steadily.

Um, that's why they give us, gave us the okay to purchase from a locally owned, uh, companies and farmers down here in southern oregon.

So we can use funding to be able to purchase the supply that's on hand right now.

And when do you think you'll be able to see exactly how much you've be able to buy?

Um, we should find out, i'm hoping within the next week.

All right.

Chris boss with access, we appreciate, uh, the information and,