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/

Come to WillaKenzie to recycle your corks!  We have partnered with Cork Forest Conservation Alliance (www.corkforest.org) to become a collection point for used corks. These corks will be reincarnated into those pulp shippers used for wine shipping.  We are really happy to be helping out a local organization; especially one, which directs affects the wine industry.

Here are some things we learned from Patrick Spencer, Executive Director at CFCA (Cork Forest Conservation Alliance):

- Cork is a natural, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable material that is obtained through environmentally friendly harvesting process.

- Trees are not cut down to harvest cork; rather the bark is hand harvested every nine years. Cork oak trees live up to 200 years old.

- The cork forests extend over 6 million acres across Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

- Containing one of the world’s highest levels of forest biodiversity, this region supports ecosystem services including air quality, climate (eg CO2 sequestration), and prevention of erosion.

- Cork oak trees store carbon in order to regenerate their bark, and a harvested cork oak tree absorbs up to five times more than one that is not [harvested].

You can recycle your corks at WillaKenzie Estate’s tasting room daily 11am to 5pm.

From oregonfoodbank.org

Join us for the Oregon Food Bank West Open House Celebration

April 26

Celebrate OFB West and the people who made it possible

Oregon Food Bank invites the public to an open house to celebrate completion of its capital campaign, purchase and renovation of its newest facility – Oregon Food Bank West – dedicated to fighting hunger in Washington County and across Oregon.

When: Saturday, April 30, 2011, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Oregon Food Bank West, 1870 N.W. 173rd Ave., Beaverton, OR

“We are deeply grateful for the foresight of OFB’s board of directors, the leadership of the OFB West capital campaign cabinet and the generosity of our donors and the community for making Oregon Food Bank West a reality,” said Rachel Bristol, CEO, Oregon Food Bank.

Oregon Food Bank purchased and renovated a former warehouse in Beaverton and turned it into Oregon Food Bank West. The successful capital campaign allowed OFB to pay off its short term loan in time for the open house.

“Oregon Food Bank West enables us to make a difference in Washington County, where requests for emergency food have outpaced the rest of Oregon for three straight years,” Bristol said.

“The building also allows us to provide more support to our statewide network of 20 regional food banks and 947 partner agencies. And it strengthens OFB’s ability to serve as a first responder in local and statewide disaster relief,” she stated.

The open house includes a brief program at 11 a.m. and self-guided tours and refreshments from noon to 3 p.m.

Speakers include U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, Oregon’s First Lady Cylvia Hayes, Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle, Kaiser Permanente Vice President and CFO Karen Schartman and Oregon Food Bank CEO Rachel Bristol.

OFB West’s renovated 35,000-square-foot Maybelle Clark Macdonald Warehouse doubles the storage capacity in Washington County for emergency food. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust Perishable Repack Room triples OFB’s capacity to safely sort and repack fresh and frozen foods with the help of hundreds of volunteers. That space along with the Bob Fisher Volunteer Action Center enables OFB West to triple the number of volunteers engaged in the fight against hunger in Washington County.

Special highlights include:
* Bob Fisher Volunteer Action Center
* M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust Perishable Repack Room
* Meyer Memorial Trust freezer
* M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust Perishable Repack Room
* Kaiser Permanente Northwest Nutrition Education Center
* Providence Health Services Community Rooms
* WillaKenzie Garden Education Center
* OFB West also operates OFB Westside Learning Garden in partnership with the Rachel L. Carson School for Environmental Science, a magnet program at Five Oaks Middle School
Renovation by GBD Architects and Walsh Construction.

Oregon Food Bank thanks Pro Photo Supply for donating printing in support of this event.

About OFB
Oregon Food Bank distributes donated food through a statewide network of 20 regional food banks and 947 partner agencies serving Oregon and Clark County, Wash. OFB also works to eliminate the root causes of hunger through public education and advocacy. OFB operates the four regional food banks serving Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Tillamook, Malheur and Harney counties in Oregon and Clark County, Washington.

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Contact Info: Jean Kempe-Ware, Public Relations manager, Oregon Food Bank
503-419-4170 (o), 503-572-7588 jkempe-ware@oregonfoodbank.org