—by Lucas Grzybowski

TA packing wax beans at OFB West. Photo by Scott Grossaint

Earlier this month the Timbers Army brought two groups of volunteers to the Oregon Food Bank locations in Portland and Beaverton, where we packed a total of 30,108 pounds of potatoes and wax beans. That comes out to 23,160 meals worth of food packed in two short hours. Mike Jezewski, our volunteer coordinator at Portland, sent this message of thanks to the TA:

Dear Timbers Army Volunteer Team,

Thank you for participating in the volunteer event at Oregon Food Bank on December 10th. Together with other community members, your team worked hard to re-pack over 22,050 pounds of potatoes! That is a lot of food! Many small tasks came together to achieve this. Our thanks go to the bag labelers, baggers, twist tiers, loaders and pallet movers. In a single visit, the entire group packed enough food to provide 16,962 meals for people in need. Every member of your team can be proud of their individual contribution. You were each responsible for 188 meals.

In Oregon and Clark County Washington, an estimated 260,000 people eat from an emergency food box in an average month. Your volunteer service helps our many neighbors who aren't sure where their next meal will come from.

What a wonderful group! We really appreciate your hard work, and look forward to seeing you soon.

Happy Holidays,

Mike Jezewski

Volunteer Coordinator

Mike included a link to this video produced by OFB, which illustrates why the need is so great, and why volunteer groups like ours are so vital.

If the holiday spirit has you feeling urged to help out, please consider donating your time, food or money to Oregon Food Bank. And if you would like to volunteer with us at our next TA Day at the Food Bank (we are bringing groups quarterly, and our next day will be in March), please email us at community@107ist.org and we'll get you on the contact list.