The Orcas Food Project has 12 neighborhood coordinators. Would you like to help make it 24? It’s easy, fun, and worthwhile.
The Orcas Food Project (OFP) collects foods for the Orcas Island Food Bank – foods that add zest to life but are generally unavailable from the primary agencies that supply the Food Bank.
Every two months, donor households fill a green OFP bag with needed food items from a list of customer suggestions prepared by a staff member. The second Sunday of even-numbered months, neighborhood coordinators (NCs) pick up the filled bags and leave empty bags. The next morning, the NCs bring the filled bags to the Food Bank, where we weigh them and sort the contents.
OFP donated a monthly record 1,042 pounds of food to the Food Bank in June 2023 and a total of 7,347 pounds since the program began in October 2021. The next collection date is Sunday, August 13.
Currently, OFP has NCs in Doe Bay, Olga, Rosario, Orcas Highlands, Buck Mountain, Eastsound – Wild Rose Meadow, Eastsound – Lavender Hollow, Mt. Woolard, the Golf Course area, Victorian Valley, Elwha Rock – Grindstone Harbor, and Spring Point. If you live elsewhere and might want to become a neighborhood coordinator, or if you’d like to become a donor wherever you live, please contact Geri Turnoy at 360-376-4165 or davidgeri@rockisland.com.
The Food Bank customers are so pleased to receive great quality food items that are relevant to their household’s food culture, so please pass along many thanks to the dozens of people who continue to make this happen! -Food Bank Operations Manager Alison O’Toole
OFP is modeled on the Ashland (Oregon) Food Project, which has been replicated in over 70 US towns and cities. Some donors fill their bags by adding an item or two to their weekly shopping; others are more last-minute. There is no obligation to buy everything on the list – we appreciate whatever fits your budget.
NCs send out the shopping list well in advance and email reminders a week before and a day before pickup Sundays. Parents often involve their children in shopping for or collecting OFP bags to model and teach compassion and community service.
Donors who are part-time island residents just let their NCs know when they’re off-island.
For more details, please visit orcasislandfoodbank.org and click on “Programs.”
Did you know that about half the people living on our island qualify, based on household income, for help at the Orcas Island Food Bank? Visits to the Food Bank increased by 194% between the first quarter of 2019 and the fourth quarter of 2022, and new customers continue to register monthly.
Thankfully, the Food Bank receives most of its donations from large hunger-relief agencies like Food Lifeline and several WSDA-supported sources. Still, there are many foods they cannot provide, so OFP contributes kid snacks, items for unhoused customers and seniors with limited cooking access, culturally relevant foods, and other items that augment the pantries of Food Bank customers.
Thanks for considering participating in the Orcas Food Project. And a special thanks to all the current neighborhood coordinators and food donors for helping our neighbors live healthy lives on Orcas Island.
~ Geri and David Turnoy, 360-376-4165, davidgeri@rockisland.com
