Ashland Food Project

"This is a great new idea. It's practical, and it comes from the heart. I'm going to start buying my weekly items today!"
—John Stromberg

MOST-NEEDED ITEMS
Non-Perishable Food

Canned Tuna
Canned Meats
Soup
Canned Beans
Dried Beans
Brown Rice
White Rice
Pasta
Canned Vegetables
Canned Fruit
Side Dishes
Soy Milk
Canned Milk
Texturized Vegetable
Protein

Especially For Seniors

Dried Fruits
Low-salt pull-tab
single-serving soups
Low-sugar pull-tab
single-serving fruits
Low-sodium crackers
Green Tea (both regular
and decaf)
Canned Vegetables
Candies typically enjoyed
by seniors

Non-Food

Toilet Paper
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Soap

MORE THAN 18,800 LBS. OF FOOD DELIVERED DURING WEEK OF AUG 14!

[August 24 update] By the end of the week of our August pickup, the total amount of food delivered topped 18,800 pounds!

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[August 24] August is tough month to collect food -- lots of people are on vacation or headed out of town. Yet we did it! Ashlanders brought the AEFB more than 16,700 lbs. of food. And the Talent Food Project topped 2,100 lbs!

The folks at the food bank were ecstatic. They told us that without your food donations, they would have been OUT OF FOOD by mid-week! Now they're set for a while.

Early morning on Aug 14

Late afternoon on Aug 14

Thank you everyone, and congratulations to our wonderful community!

Our Next Pick-Up Day is Saturday, October 9th.
See you then!

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OUR JUNE 12TH PICKUP WAS A SMASHING SUCCESS!

[June 12, 2010] Neighborhood Coordinators delivered more than 18,500 pounds of food to
Ashland and Talent food banks!

. . . .

We celebrated our first anniversary with our biggest food collection yet! Thank you, everyone.

A group of individuals and families from Medford joined us for the June pickup and now they're planning to start a Medford chapter! Read about it HERE. If you live in Medford, and are interested in helping to create THE MEDFORD FOOD PROJECT, just click on "Become a Neighborhood Volunteer" (at the left) and fill in your information. We'll get in touch. Thanks!

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The AFP has grown with every pickup since we first started collecting food. Unfortunately, the number of people needing food is growing even faster. This chart shows the number of individuals served by the Ashland Emergency Food Bank over the last 18 months, and the way AFP is helping to meet that need. As you can see, we now provide about 30% of their food. But we need to keep going and growing!

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[April 20, 2010] AFP honored to receive this year's Volunteer Spirit Community Service Award

More than 60 volunteers showed up to receive the award. Thank You, City of Ashland, for the recognition. Thank You, the more than 1,700 volunteer members of the Ashland Food Project Community for making this project so successful. Together, we are truly making a difference!

Photo Credit: bryon DEVORE Photography

See the informational Slide Show we prepared for the event:

WE BROKE OUR OWN RECORD YET AGAIN! During the week of April 10th, Ashland Food Project volunteers collected and delivered approximately 17,000 pounds of food to the Ashland Emergency Food Bank and the Talent Food Pantry.

Our previous pickup in February garnered more than 15,000 pounds in Ashland and Talent. Our first pick-up, in June, brought in about 3,800 pounds of food. We thought that was great. Our second time, we were blown away by Ashland's generosity and commitment enabling us to deliver more than 7,200 pounds of food to the Ashland Emergency Food Bank. The third pickup in October brought in an amazing 8,600 pounds; and in December we delivered more than 13,000 pounds! To be able to sustain holiday levels in February (when food donations are typically very low) and AGAIN in April, demonstrates that this neighborhood collection method truly works.

On Friday, April 9, the Ashland Emergency Food Bank's shelves were almost empty. Bernice Koch, a food bank volunteer, took this photo. As you can see, they were practically out of food.

[April 9, 2010] On Saturday, the AFP brought in nearly 15,000 lbs. of food in Ashland, and 1,200 lbs. in Talent -- more than 8 tons. (With still more to come, we'll easily break 17,000 lbs. by the end of the week -- a new AFP record!)

By the end of the day Monday, April 12, all the AFP food had been put on the shelves. This is what they look like now.

Thank you everyone. What a great community we live in!

The Ashland Food Project (also serving Talent) is still growing. Our goal is to enroll more than 2010 food donors in 2010. You can help. Join us as a Neighborhood Coordinator, and bring your neighborhood into this wonderful project. Click on the "Become a Volunteer" button, and we'll get in touch with all the info you need. Or become a Food Donor, and start saving food now. Just click on the "Share Food" button at the left.

Some of the items collected go to Food Angels, a non-profit that distributes food to several meal programs in Ashland, and to four meal programs directly: Uncle Food's Diner at the Methodist Church, the Ashland Senior Center, the Monday Morning Breakfast at First Congregational United Church of Christ and the (NEW) Last Wednesday monthly meal at the First Presbyterian Church. Below are special Wish Lists from each.

Peace House - Uncle Food's Diner Tuesday Meal at the Methodist Church
brown rice
dried beans
tomato sauce
spaghetti
noodles
tuna
coffee
oil - canola, olive or other vegetable (NOT Crisco)
sugar
onions, garlic
18-in aluminum foil
dish soap
garbage bags
tea
vinegar (rice, apple)
vegetable broth

Ashland Senior Center Daily Lunch
low sodium soups
whole grain or bran cereal
dried fruit - prunes, raisins, apricots, etc.
tea - herbal, green
pudding - mix or pre-made
oatmeal or other hot breakfast cereal packets
hot chocolate
canned fruit
single serving meals - stew, hash, chicken & noodles, low sodium preferred
canned milk

First Congregational United Church of Christ Monday Breakfast
whole grain or bran cereal
oatmeal
pancake mix
syrup

First Presbyterian Church Monthly (Last Wednesday) Meal
kidney beans
chili seasoning packets
crushed tomatoes
onions
garlic

Ashland is known for its high-end food culture. Yet many Ashlanders find it tough to afford even the most basic food. Fortunately, local organizations like the Ashland Emergency Food Bank, the Food Angels and Uncle Food’s Diner are around to help them.

These groups already distribute food to thousands of our neighbors. But as the economy has gotten tighter, their need for food has grown. The New York Times reports that demand at food banks across the U.S. is up by an average of 30%. But in Ashland demand at our local food bank is up a whopping 65% over last year. So where are the additional supplies going to come from?

That’s where you — and we — come in. If you’re one of the many Ashlanders who’d like to help, but haven’t found a good way to do it yet, the Ashland Food Project is the perfect solution. It's a door-to-door food collection program that will help provide a steady supply of food to Ashland's "free food" programs.

Step 1) Each week, you buy one extra nonperishable item when you go shopping. — something you'd share with a neighbor, like a box of cereal or can of soup

Step 2) Store the food in your home; keep adding to your supply.

Step 3) Every other month (on a prearranged day), an Ashland Food Project volunteer who lives in your neighborhood will come to your home and pick it up.

Step 4) The food will then be delivered directly to Ashland’s established food distribution organizations. In this way, we're not reinventing the wheel; we're utilizing and strengthening the distribution infrastructure that already exists.

It’s that simple. All you have to do is say “Yes” to us, and then remember to buy an extra item once a week.

The Ashland Food Project three goals:

To provide food to all Ashlanders who need it. We’ve already got a good “free food” distribution system. Together we can make it stronger by providing a new, steady source of supplies.
To strengthen our community. This program isn’t just about food donations. The Ashland Food Project is built on neighbor-to-neighbor contact. Meeting neighbors face-to-face creates a point of contact that makes other communication possible.
To serve as a model for other towns. All over America, people are wondering how to meet our growing social challenges. Together, we can show them a way to do it.

Share Food. We estimate that for every 300 people who participate, we’ll collect about a ton of additional food per month! If only 10% of Ashland’s 9,000 households get involved, we’ll add an estimated 36 tons of food per year to the local supply. And it all starts with you.

Be a Neighborhood Volunteer. An investment of about 15 hours a year to call on your neighbors will help strengthen Ashland's support network and provide food to people who need it. Plus, you'll get to know your neighborhood. What a deal!

Help transport food. Once every two months, join forces with the Ashland Food Project truckers to pick up food from Neighborhood Volunteers, and and deliver it to "free food" organizations.

Contact Us. Use the enclosed forms. Or e-mail us at foodproject@opendoor.com. Or call us at 488-6976.

Designed, Developed, Deployed and Donated by Project A, Inc.