Food needs don't cool down.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

January's a tricky month for food banks. Holiday generosity in November and December stocks up the warehouse.

"It's a time of year where people are focused on giving and it's easy to get their attention," said Pat Farr, FOOD for Lane County's executive director.

But the cold winter months create a cash crunch for low-income people paying more for utilities. More people need food at this time of year, and by January, community giving tends to drop off, Farr said.

Without donations, the three-week food supply at the warehouse can dwindle fast.

The challenge is compounded this year because federal food supplies are down. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has less food to pass on to the nation's food banks because of hurricanes in 2004 that decimated cropland, said Jean Kempe-Ware, spokesman for the Oregon Food Bank, citing published reports.

In 2005, Katrina's devastation took a toll on the national web of food banks, which diverted their supplies to the South in the weeks after the hurricane.

The good news is that local donors have stepped up to fill some of the gap, Farr and Kempe-Ware said.

In Lane County, 68 separate food drives occurred during the holidays. Some groups brought in just a barrel or two of food. Others, such as the Cans from Carriers Who Care, brought in 160,000 pounds, Farr said.

Statewide, two cash donations also will help fill the food bank shelves: $200,000 from the Providence Health Plan Community Benefits Fund and $100,000 from the Oregon Community Foundation will allow the Oregon Food Bank to purchase 400,000 pounds of food, Kempe-Ware said. That will go a long way to filling the 600,000-pound gap created by the loss of USDA supplied products, Kemp-Ware said.

The money will buy cans of vegetables, fruit, beef stew and chili, peanut butter, refried beans, macaroni and cheese, and boxes of cornflakes, about 10 truck loads.

Several thousand pounds of that amount will make its way to Lane County, she said, enough to fill an emergency food box for about 4,000 people.

FOOD for Lane County expects that about 90,000 people will need an emergency food box during this fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30, about 10,000 more than last year.

Farr said he hopes Lane County residents won't forget the agency in the coming months.

"We're down a little from what I would like to see," he said.

For more information, or to volunteer, contact FOOD for Lane County at 343-2822.

CAPTION(S):

Full-time FOOD for Lane County volunteer Bob Cox sorts some of the perishable food that has been donated to the center in west Eugene.