by Ronni Lacroute
I have had a relatively long relationship with the Oregon Food Bank in that I began donating to this fine organization shortly after arriving in Oregon. When I lived in California, I donated to the community food bank there, both financially and in kind because I grew abundant fruit and donated the excess harvest to the food bank every season (mostly citrus fruit). After moving to Oregon in 1997, I discovered the OFB and learned of their mission to end the food insecurity in Oregon and SW Washington that causes poor health and impaired cognitive development in children as well as behavioral problems and impaired academic performance. Childhood hunger is extremely detrimental to the health of the entire community. Since food donations only go part way towards solving the problem of food insecurity, I was especially interested in the Oregon Food Bank’s emphasis on education, teaching clients how to grow and prepare their own food so they would not be dependent on less nutritious fast food or only canned and shelf stable donated foods. Through education in gardening and nutrition, clients have more ability to feed their families with highly nutritious foods, so I decided to invest resources in the development of the new Garden Education Center in the new Oregon Food Bank West facility in Beaverton, which began to serve the community West of Portland and Beaverton area in 2010.
This post was written by Ronni Lacroute, owner and founder of WillaKenzie Estate.
For full bio please click here: http://willakenzie.com/about/people-matter/ronni-lacroute/
