By CONNER WILLIAMS Freelancer
This month marks the arrival of Western’s annual food drive. The Governor’s State Employees Food Drive is dedicated to former Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh who passed away in July 2014.
Atiyeh founded the Oregon Food Bank in 1982 and devoted much of his time to helping provide food to Oregon’s hungry.
The drive will take place Feb. 2 through Feb. 27. During that time, there will be boxes scattered throughout the campus for non-perishable food contributions.
Examples of accepted donations include canned goods, soups, beans, vegetables, and tuna. Boxed foods, such as pasta and rice, are acceptable as well. Personal hygiene items like toothbrushes and toothpaste also are welcome donations.
According to Debbie Diehm, assistant to the vice president of student affairs, Western has donated the most food out of all Oregon public universities in each of the last ten years.
Last year, the Western community raised 104,575.68 pounds of food, which amounts to 153.11 pounds per student. There will be several other ways to donate outside of giving physical food items.
According to the food drive’s website, employees can make monetary donations by cash, check, credit card or payroll deduction. Employees can also meet the Governor’s Challenge by donating at least $144 annually.
Diehm along with Nora Solvedt and Lisa Catto, who are coordinating the food drive effort for Western, estimate that a $1 donation amounts to about four pounds of food.
The two main beneficiaries of the donated food are the WOU Food Pantry, in the Werner University Center, and the Ella Curran Food Bank in Independence.
Diehm holds a particular passion for the food drive. “This event is great at making sure that the food stays here and benefits the Western community,” she said. “We try to take care of each other as best we can, and I hope we can beat our impressive numbers from last year.”
For more information on the different ways to contribute and for other information, visit www.oregon.gov/fooddrive.
