Susan James, Gleaning and Volunteer Coordinator at Linn Benton Food Share program, honored volunteers on Thursday evening, April 29th at her Open House. Susan holds Open House on the last Thursday of the month from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Linn Benton Food Share warehouse in Tangent.“Tonight’s celebration is in honor of Volunteer Week, said James, “But, our volunteers should be honored all year long. I would just like to thank every one of them. We couldn’t do our job of providing food to people who need it without the help of hundreds of volunteers and thousands of volunteer hours. "
Approximately 15 volunteers were at Open House. They repackaged several totes of cereal into family-sized packages. The cereal will be delivered or picked up along with hundreds of pounds of other food by Linn Benton Food Share’s 73 non-profit agencies. These agencies range from food pantries, soup kitchens to day care centers.
When asked what motivated them to volunteer, the answers varied.
“I want to teach my daughter, Elizabeth, about community service.” said Kristi Murphey. They volunteer regularly at Linn Benton Food Share warehouse.
“Volunteer Michael Fernandez said “I think community service is important. I have time and so I thought this is how I should be spending it. Food Share is an essential program.”
Aimee Murphy, a student at OSU gets credit for her class "Families and Poverty" by volunteering. She will also write a paper and give a presentation. "I find it disturbing how easy it is for a family to fall into poverty," said Murphy.
