Saturday, January 31, 2009

Blog for Food

One of your elderly neighbors said, "It’s either buy food or take your medicine. It’s a real hard choice."

Another neighbor, a young mother with her kids, said, "There are times when you have to choose between milk and diapers."

You can choose to listen, or you can ignore them. But these are real Oregonians facing real choices, and it's time for those of us who can to take real steps to do something about it.

"These Oregonians have been feeling the economic downturn long before Wall Street plummeted," said Rachel Bristol, executive director and CEO of Oregon Food Bank. "We believe we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. As the recession continues, we anticipate the need for food assistance will climb for months to come. In these troubled times, we need everyone to do whatever they can to help their neighbors in need...because no one should be hungry."

That's why 38 Oregon bloggers are joining together during the month of February to raise funds for the Oregon Food Bank, the hub of a network of 915 hunger-relief agencies in Oregon and Clark County, Washington.

Each is displaying the Blog for Food logo and asking readers to click to donate whatever they can to help relieve hunger in Oregon. And so we can track your donations and report on how it's going, we're asking that you enter "Blog for Food" in the "Tribute Gift: In honor of:" space on the donation form.

As President Obama said in his inaugural address, "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility—a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

This is a good way to start.

10 comments:

Kiezie said...

You can make that 36 Oregon bloggers! May I quote your post on my chefbliss.com blog?

Kathleen Bauer said...

Great to have you on board! I'll have my co-sponsor send you the materials. Feel free to quote away. And thanks!

Celena V. Carr said...

I think this is such a great, concrete way to help. Thanks for posting, I just made my donation!

Kiezie said...

Got it. Thanks, I'm excited to join!

Kathleen Bauer said...

Thanks, Celena! OFB is a great organization that's making a concrete difference in people's lives every day.

Like I said, it's a start!

Anonymous said...

I hope you don't mind that I also copied the logo and a bit of your information on my website. What a great way to start the New Year! Thanks
PS. Huge fan of your blog!
eastmorelandmarket.com

Kathleen Bauer said...

No problem at all! And I'll add you to the list.

Thanks, Colleen!

Anonymous said...

I've joined up, too, and am now reading your blog for the first time. Can't wait to read more! Thanks for organizing this drive.

Portland Pickle said...

Hi! I'd like to be a part of this. I can post on my food blog asap. Do I need further information?

http://theportlandpickle.com/

Kathleen Bauer said...

Hi PP! We'd love to have you join! If you could e-mail me or the Pacific NW Cheese Project (we're co-anchoring the campaign), we'll send you the info. And thanks!