Hunger hits home: 'It's really hard to make it through an entire month'

By Jennifer Winters KVAL News and KVAL.com Staff Published: Apr 2, 2009 at 12:37 PM PDT Last Updated: Apr 3, 2009 at 9:07 AM PDT
child at empty refrigerator »Play Video

The next time you go shopping, you can make a real different in somone's life.

  • Start in the pasta, beans and canned meats aisle, where Food for Lane County says you can find some great food to donate.
     
  • Start with pasta, healthy and inexpensive.
     
  • They also want canned tomatoes, brown rice, and tuna and other canned meats.
     
  • Also in demand: inexpensive proteins like beans.
     
  • Canned fruit, dried fruits, low-sugarapple sauce and jams.
     
  • Anything hearty like stew, corned beef and chili.

Learn more about the Can Do Food Drive and how you can help
EUGENE, Ore. -- After working 28 years as a nurse, caring for others, Donna -- who asked that her last name not be used -- needs a little help of her own.

Health issues forced her off the job. She scrapes by on disability and Medicare, but she doesn't qualify for food stamps.

"So it's really hard to make it through an entire month without going to the food box," she said.

She's not alone: Food for Lane County estimates one in five people here gets food assistance.

Record numbers of people are lining up for meals and food boxes at charities in Eugene and Springfield. And on Monday night, the Eugene soup kitchen called 'The Dining Room' served a record 420 hungry people.

On food box day at Catholic Community Services, Donna fills her cart with rice, beans and cans of fruits and vegetable donated by Food for Lane County.
 
In the line with her are families with young children, newly unemployed people, homeless people, and the working poor.

"I don't feel like I'm better than or less than," Donna said. "I think there are a lot of people that are in my situation."

Catholic Community Services recently gave out 212 food boxes in one day, a record.

Sometimes they run out of food, but on Wednesday, donations are enough that Donna leaves with a full cart -- and a heart full of thanks.

"I think that's wonderful," she said.