1 in 3 LaneCo residents eligible for emergency food help
EUGENE, Ore. -- Sherri Brooks and her 6-year-old granddaughter Kyra showed up at 11 a.m. Monday, just in time to get a food box at the Catholic Community Services food pantry.
The pantry gets 98 percent of its food from Food for Lane County.
The Brooks' went through the line and stocked up on chicken, beans, milk and produce.
They're not alone: Oregon is the third hungriest state in the country. One in three people in Lane County are eligible for emergency food help.
Sherri Brooks is on Social Security. She said she comes here once a month. The food feeds her family of three for about a week. She said she worries about not having enough food.
"That's a constant," Brooks said. "Especially the rise of gas prices these days. That affects everything. Getting this once a month, it just helps that budget go that much further."
Their box packed to the brim, the Brooks family thanked the volunteers and said goodbye.
But before they could drive off, a pantry volunteer stopped them and handed Kyra a special treat, a box of donuts to celebrate her upcoming birthday.
Food for Lane County distributes 129,000 pounds of food a week, more than six and a half million pounds a year.
