SCC eBulletin - Food Insecurity: One in Five Oregonians.

Lunch with Leaders:

Food Insecurity

- One In Five Oregonians -

December 9, 2011 @ Noon
Willamette Heritage Center, at the Mill

As we enter this holiday season, we will likely reflect on the many blessings in our lives – friends, family, health, and reasonable security.
We may also view the broader society in which we live, and come face-to-face with the reality that many of our fellow citizens are struggling just to meet life’s basic needs. An astonishing one in five Oregonians now meet the criteria of “food insecure”. When we look to find the “causes” of this insecurity, we find many contributing factors - with the current economic recession the most prominent.
So, why is this important, and what are the leaders in our social service agencies doing to see us through this time of difficulty? What can we do as ordinary citizens to assist in resolving the travails that face our fellow citizens?
For some answers, we will hear from three individuals who have dedicated their careers to making a positive difference in the everyday lives of Oregonians:

Ron Hays has been the President/CEO of Marion-Polk Food Share since August 2005. For several years prior to that, he worked for Northwest Medical Teams (now Medical Teams International) where he helped manage the disaster response in

Sri Lanka following the devastating tsunami disaster in 2004. He volunteered on multiple disaster teams in Latin America, Africa and Asia, and coordinated the development of a training curriculum including a 31 chapter Emergency Medical Training basic textbook and its translation to multiple languages.

During Ron’s tenure with Marion-Polk Food Share, the MPFS network has grown from under 60 to close to 100 programs afcross the two-county region and also established 40 community gardens. He also created a new and innovative Core Foods program, which focuses on providing healthy and nutritionally-balanced foods to each member agency, identifying 16 core foods that MPFS endeavors to always have available for distribution. Ron has served on a number of non-profit boards and currently serves on the Marion County Children & Families Commission as well as the Statesman-Journal editorial board and is a member of Salem Rotary Club. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Oregon State College and a Masters in Business Administration from George Fox University. He and his wife, Linda, live in Silverton, on a farm that has been in his family for nearly 90 years.

Belit Stockfleth is the manager of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Youth Services Programs for the Oregon Department of Human Services. SNAP provides federally funded benefits to low-income Oregonians who need help buying food to be healthy.

During her tenure, Oregon has received several grants and performance bonuses for effective, accurate and timely administration of the food benefits program.

Before Belit became the state’s SNAP manager, she served as a policy analyst, program line manager and case manager in Oregon’s Self-Sufficiency Program. Much of her experience was gained working in field offices as a line manager and case manager who provided services to people from many different cultures and diverse backgrounds, including refugees.

Heidi Wold is a hometown girl, graduated in 1983 from Sprague

High School. She later attended Willamette University, and worked in food service and advertising until she found her home in the nonprofit section. She has been the
executive director of Salem-Keizer “Meals on Wheels” for the last eight years. Locally, she is an elder at Salem First Presbyterian church. Professionally, she recently concluded her second term as the President of the Oregon Meals on Wheels Association.

Please join us December 9, 2011 as we look at hunger in Oregon. Lunch and program will be hosted in the Spinning Room at Willamette Heritage Center at the Mill. For those not on our “continuous attendee” list, you may e-mail lunch reservations to: rsvp@salemcityclub.comor call 503-370-2808 by Wednesday noon, December 7, 2011. SCC members lunch cost is $12, all others $15. Doors open at 11:30 AM. The community is welcomed and encouraged to join us! There is a $5 charge for visitors who would like coffee and a cookie. For more information on upcoming programs, and directions to this event please go to www.salemcityclub.com.

Note: Salem City Club encourages its members to support local, trusted organizations that help in the fight against hunger. Please consider supporting the Marion-Polk Food Share or the Salem-Keizer Meals on Wheels.

At our December 9 program you may bring your voluntary donation of food, for Marion Polk Food Share, to the Willamette Heritage Center; a large blue donation bin will be near the elevator leading to the Spinning Room. You may also make a monetary donation. Cash and checks will be gathered by the Spire and or SCC staff as your enter the Spinning Room. Please make checks payable to Marion-Polk Food Share, or to Salem-Keizer Meals on Wheels, not to Salem City Club. All donations will go directly to Marion-Polk Food Share and/or Salem-Keizer Meals on Wheels to assist in their mission -- leading the fight to END hunger in Marion and Polk counties...because no one should be hungry.

To donate online, or to see a list of the 10 most wanted food items, visit these websites:

http://www.marionpolkfoodshare.org/.

http://www.mealsonwheelssk.org/.

Fifth Fridays

“Authors You Should Know and

Books You Should Read”

Salem City Club is pleased to announce its Fifth Friday series. This series of three, fifth Fridays will be focused on local authors.

THE FIRST FIFTH FRIDAY was a great success! Approximately forty people enjoyed an excellent presentation by Russ Beaton on his latest book with co-author Chris Maser, Economics and Ecology-United for a Sustainable World. Thank you, Russ. And special thanks to members Jan Margosian and Carla Mikkelson for organizing this successful Fifth Friday.

At the next Fifth Friday, March 30, 2012, we will hear Gwen Carr discuss her newly released book, Perseverance: A History of African Americans in Oregon’s Marion and Polk Counties.

The final Fifth Friday, Friday, June 29, 2012, will feature Oregon’s first and only woman governor, Barbara Roberts, discussing her newest book, Up the Capitol Steps.

Look for details of the next Fifth Friday in future issues of the E-Bulletin.

Salem City Club invites the community to attend. Come listen, learn, and meet local authors. To learn more about the Fifth Friday Series and Salem City Club visit our website at: www.salemcityclub.com

Thank you to the Statesmen Journal Media for their media sponsorship of this series. Mark you calendar, sync your iPhone -- you won’t want to miss this series of local authors.

Mark your calendars for future Salem City Club programs!

Friday, January 6, 2012: THE HISTORIC FIRST ANNUAL SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE: A PREVIEW. Rep. Vicki Berger and Rep. Jefferson Smith.

Friday, January 20, 2012: THE ANNUAL STATE OF THE COURTS ADDRESS. Hon. Paul De Muniz, Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court.