Portland, OR, July 2, 2017 -- More than 250,000 people in the Portland metropolitan area and Southwest Washington -- a third of them children -- don't know where their next meal is coming from. Everyone is at risk of falling on hard times and needing the support of a local food pantry. Spring and summer months are often the toughest related to food security and Legacy Health's annual food drive seeks to mitigate some of that scarcity.
In its third year, Legacy Health employees and staff of nearly 13,000 across all its hospitals and clinics, donated 10,760 pounds of food and more than $10,000 in monetary contributions to local food banks and food pantries. That equates to an equivalent of nearly 21,000 pounds of food going to 15 community food pantry partners in the Portland Metro and Southwest Washington areas.
"Food insecurity can have a direct impact to the health of our communities. We're proud that our employees continue to deliver on our mission of good health to the people who need it most even outside our physical walls," says Trent Green, chief strategy officer and president of Legacy Medical Group. "Our hope is that these contributions can help buoy our local food bank programs during this critical time."
Now completing its third year, Legacy Health has donated 31,255 pounds of food and $28,124 in monetary donations distributed through 15 different food banks. This year also added new organizations to help improve the reach of food throughout our communities.
Legacy holds the food drive in May or June to provide a significant amount of food during the "off" time of year, when food pantry cupboards often are growing bare. During the summer, many children no longer have access to free meals at school and families need the support of our community food banks more than ever. Our theme, "May no one go hungry" resonates with our communities as much as it does with our employees who give so generously.
Donations will go to the following organizations in the Portland metro area and SW Washington:
- AWARE Food Bank (Woodburn)
- Birch Community Services (Portland)
- Clark County Food Bank (Vancouver)
- Columbia Pacific Food Bank (St. Helens)
- Community Action (Hillsboro)
- Lift Urban Portland (Portland)
- NE Emergency Food Program (Portland)
- Sandy Action Center (Sandy)
- Share Vancouver (Vancouver)
- Silverton Area Community Aid (Silverton)
- SnowCap Community Charities (Portland)
- St. Vincent de Paul Canby Food Bank (Canby)
- Tualatin School House Pantry (Tualatin)
- West Linn Food Pantry (West Linn)
- WSU Cougar Food Pantry (Vancouver)
About Legacy Health
Legacy Health is one of Oregon's only locally-owned nonprofit health-care organization with over 13,000 employees serving you where you work, live, and play. An integrated network of care providers from over 100 Legacy Medical Group primary care and specialty clinics to seven community-based and nationally recognized hospitals including Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel, Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center, Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center, Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center, and Legacy Silverton Medical Center. Legacy provides a vigorous research program at its state-of-the-art Legacy Research Institute and extensive medical testing at Legacy Laboratory Services. Visit us at: www.legacyhealth.org
