The original Food Project was started in Ashland in January 2009 by a small group of Ashland residents who wanted make it easy for people to donate food to the Ashland Emergency Food Bank. They realized that many of their neighbors wanted to help fight hunger in their community, but for one reason or another, never get around to it. So they created a simple, door-to-door food collection system to enable people to pitch in. Since then, the food project has grown to include Talent, Phoenix, Medford and Eagle Point.
They had three goals:
- To provide a regular supply of food to hungry neighbors
- To create new neighborhood connections and strengthen the community
- To serve as a model for other communities
TFP volunteers canvassed their neighborhoods, knocking on doors and inviting neighbors to participate. Whenever people said “Yes,” the volunteers suggested that they buy just one extra nonperishable food item each week, and store it at home. The volunteers promised to stop by the donors’ homes every two months, pick the food up, and take it directly to the food bank.
The Talent Food Project started with a core group of 10 volunteers picking up food in Talent. The first pickup day in Talent, in 2010, netted about 600 pounds of food while Phoenix netted 500 pounds of food their first year (2011). By December, 2011 our success was clear—more than 25 NCs in Talent picked up more than 20,000 lbs from more than 400 donors.
Join us! Don’t wait for a neighbor to knock on your door. Get in touch and let us know you want to share food. We’ll bring you a green bag, and get you started right away!
The original Food Project was started in Ashland in January 2009 by a small group of Ashland residents who wanted make it easy for people to donate food to the Ashland Emergency Food Bank. They realized that many of their neighbors wanted to help fight hunger in their community, but for one reason or another, never get around to it. So they created a simple, door-to-door food collection system to enable people to pitch in. Since then, the food project has grown to include Talent, Phoenix, Medford and Eagle Point.
They had three goals:
- To provide a regular supply of food to hungry neighbors
- To create new neighborhood connections and strengthen the community
- To serve as a model for other communities
TFP volunteers canvassed their neighborhoods, knocking on doors and inviting neighbors to participate. Whenever people said “Yes,” the volunteers suggested that they buy just one extra nonperishable food item each week, and store it at home. The volunteers promised to stop by the donors’ homes every two months, pick the food up, and take it directly to the food bank.
The Talent Food Project started with a core group of 10 volunteers picking up food in Talent. The first pickup day in Talent, in 2010, netted about 600 pounds of food while Phoenix netted 500 pounds of food their first year (2011). By December, 2011 our success was clear—more than 25 NCs in Talent picked up more than 20,000 lbs from more than 400 donors.
Join us! Don’t wait for a neighbor to knock on your door. Get in touch and let us know you want to share food. We’ll bring you a green bag, and get you started right away!