Bulletin E-Edition:
more photosBend volunteer Duana Yarbor, left, serves ribs to Ethelene Sachtjen, of Bend, during the Feed the Hungry event at Bend’s Community Center on Sunday. The weekly free meal can draw several hundred people, Yarbor said.
Photos by Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
Feeding the hungry
Hundreds of area residents get a hot, healthy meal each week
By Kate Ramsayer / The Bulletin
Published: November 09. 2009 4:00AM PSTKathy Mathison, of La Pine, has been out of work for about four months, and said she and her husband have been struggling financially recently. But still, she wasn’t sure about coming to Bend’s Community Center’s weekly Feed the Hungry free Sunday meal.
“I was a little hesitant about coming,” she said. “I felt like I didn’t need it as much as other people.”
But sitting near six grandchildren and other family members, she said the program is good for anyone who could use a hot, healthy meal.
“It’s nice to know there’s a place to go when you need it,” Mathison said.
The Feed the Hungry program serves between 200 and 400 people every Sunday — a number that has doubled in the last two years, said Taffy Gleason, director of the community center. Volunteers have been seeing a lot more homeless teenagers and young people recently, she said, along with couples and families in which one or more of the adults have lost a job.
Sunday afternoon, volunteer Duana Yarbor, of Bend, made sure everyone’s plate was well stocked with baked potatoes, salads, chili, a pasta dish, ribs and more.
“It’s a fantastic thing for the community,” she said, noting that some people have to choose between paying the rent and properly feeding their family.
Volunteers get to the community center at 10 a.m. on Sundays and start preparing the food, she said, some of it donated by local grocery stores or food banks.
The menu changes every week based on what is donated, but the goal is to provide a nutritious meal, she said.
“It’s just great to be able to give back to the people who need it,” Yarbor said.
Pat Leahy was volunteering for the first time, and said that she is happy to help out.
“The need is so great. There’s so many people on the edge,” Leahy said. “These are not just people living in tents in the forest ... They’re just regular people who need a hand.”
With the holidays approaching, she said, people’s budgets get stretched, and the center is gearing up for both Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.
The Feed the Hungry program is “wonderful” for people with a low income, said Ethelene Sachtjen, of Bend, who has been coming to the community center for about a year now.
“It’s nice that you can come here,” she said. “It’s good to have a nourishing meal in your stomach.”
Rusty Holcomb, of Bend, said he’s been unemployed for about six months and came for the complete meal.
“I’ve been here a couple times lately.”
He sat at a table with Justin Smith, who was there for the first time. Smith lost his job recently, as well, and has been getting by on unemployment and food stamps. But he was impressed with the meal at the community center.
“It’s pretty good food,” he said.
Kate Ramsayer can be reached at 541-617-7811 or kramsayer@bendbulletin.com.
ARTICLE ACCESS: This article is among those available to all readers. Many more articles are available only to E-Edition members. Sign up today!
blog comments powered by Disqus
