July Change for Good Partner: Ashland Food Angels
July's Change for Good Partner is
local nonprofit Ashland Food Angels
Ashland Food Angels is a local, fully volunteer grassroots non-profit which has operated daily since 1995, gathering and distributing food and other useful items to those in need in this area.
Each morning a Food Angel volunteer picks up food, including fresh produce, dairy, deli and bakery items from Shop N Kart and twice a week from Market of Choice. Each evening produce is collected from the Ashland Food Coop, and at the end of both Farmers Markets in Ashland as well. Food is sorted and reboxed for distribution through the Ashland Emergency Food Bank, the Peace House sponsored Uncle Foods free meals program, the shelter in Ashland run by Rogue Retreat, and at times to other organizations such as Gospel Mission. Food unfit for people is given to farmers for their animals or for compost.
Each afternoon unwanted non-food items are collected from the Hospice Unique Boutique (HUB), which are redistributed throughout the community in a variety of ways.
Ashland Food Angels was started in conjunction with the Northwest Seasonal Workers Association, to help provide food for the many families assisted by NSWA. The food was delivered to their offices in Ashland or Medford three times a week. An additional motivational factor in beginning the project was to keep as much out of the landfills as possible. Soon contact was made with other helping organizations, such as Uncle Food's, Jackson County Fuel Committee and school, senior and Native American groups and an ongoing distribution service was established through which recipients received food donations they could rely upon.
For the first five years of the project the work was done entirely by Pamala Joy, with help from her then young adolescent daughter, moving food from store to distribution site in an old beat-up van. The sorting was done in Ms. Joy's front yard or on her side deck, covered rapidly with tarps if the rains set in. Eventually she was able to take over a small but dry garage which was rebuilt to serve the purpose of food sorting and storage.
The Ashland Food Angels has been highly successful and effective, helping many individuals and families over the years, and keeping a great deal out of landfills and into the hands of people who can use the food and other retrieved items. The Food Angels have expanded from helping one group to serving several different groups regularly, as well as many other groups and individuals through one time or occasional donations. The ripple effect of this project has contributed significantly to the lives of many in this area and is now so firmly in place that it will continue for many years to come. They are different from food banks in that we gather food for organizations to give away, and we predominately focus on fruits and vegetables.
To learn more about the Ashland Food Angels, volunteering, and the work that they are doing, please visit ashlandfoodangels.org
Ashland Food Angels was voted on by our owners in our 2021 election to be a Change for Good Partner.
Through the cumulative register round up donations over the course of this month ~ our shoppers will help support this local nonprofit organization and the work that they are doing in our community.
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