Covering the basics

Julie French | Daily Tidings

John Patterson, 9, peers at a shelf of Ramen noodles during his family’s visit to the ACCESS food pantry at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Wednesday.

The day before Thanksgiving, Sandy Patterson and her son John, 9, came to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, not in search of turkey and stuffing, but just a little to food to get them by.

"Right now we have no milk, and we have no bread," she said. "I have to have a few things in the fridge. We just need basics."

Patterson is self-employed selling window coverings, and winter is always a little slim. This year has been worse since the housing industry took a nosedive, she said.

For many, the 19 food pantries in Jackson County run by ACCESS Inc. have meant the difference between going hungry and having enough. About 8,000 Jackson County households receive emergency food boxes, said Philip Yates, nutrition programs manager for ACCESS, the county's emergency food bank. The agency feeds about 3,100 families each month, he said.

Readers will find a grocery bag inserted in today's editions of the Daily Tidings and Mail Tribune, which they can fill up with non-perishable food items to help put "Hunger in the bag." Also sponsored by ACCESS and Sherm's Thunderbird Markets, the goal of the 24th annual "Food for Hope" drive is to raise 25,000 pounds of food and $25,000 in donations through Dec. 31.

"Fifty-five thousand bags are going out this year," Yates said.

Protein-rich foods are high on ACCESS's wish list. These include peanut butter, canned tuna, canned meat and beans.

Basic items such as canned fruits and vegetables, grains and pastas typically make up one-quarter of each food box.

Cash contributions are encouraged because ACCESS can provide 6 pounds of food, or about six meals, for every dollar donated, Yates said.

Last year, ACCESS exceeded their goal raising over 31,000 pounds of food and $28,959 as a result of Food For Hope.

"We understand that these are tough economic times and are setting our goals at the same level as last year, but we feel confident that the community will step up and pitch in to help us meet this year's goal," Yates said.

In addition to the food pantries, local soup kitchens and shelters serve more than 50,000 people each year, and ACCESS distributes more than 380 commodity food boxes each month to low-income seniors in Jackson County, Yates said.

A recent report revealed Oregon's hunger rates are significantly higher than the national average and that Oregon currently rates as number three in food insecurity. ACCESS workers are concerned that once the holidays are over, the giving spirit may dip as the need increases. Food banks' cupboards could be bare just as winter truly takes hold, Yates said.

"January is when it's really going to hit us," he said.

The struggling economy has already increased need enormously. The number of people signed up for ACCESS food boxes is up from 580 in 2007 to 690 in 2008.

"And the month is not yet over," he said.

By Wednesday afternoon, the Ashland pantry had exhausted its weekly supply of frozen meats and only two bags of frozen sweet potatoes remained. The refrigerator was bare save for three containers of sour cream.

Because there was no meat left, Yates made a special exception for Janette Owens, who was shopping for three children. Owens was allowed a few extra packages of ramen noodles.

"They eat these good," she said. "I don't want to take something that they're not going to eat."

She passed on the oatmeal because her kids won't touch it, but added a box of cereal to her cart with beef stew, some potatoes and even some kibble for their cat.

Owens never thought she'd be at a food pantry, but her work hours for her in-home care job dropped from 40 to 15 and things were getting tough.

"Gas is going up, groceries are going up, and I have three kids at home," she said. "Even school shopping is outrageous for my two junior high girls. Just to get the basics was $150. Christmas is going to be kind of skinny this year."

Ashland drop-off locations include Umpqua Bank and both fire stations.

Barbara Derhalli, manager of the ACCESS food pantry in Ashland, removes the last package of food from the freezer on Wednesday.

Mail Tribune reporter Sanne Specht contributed to this report.