VANCOUVER – Alumni are invited to volunteer to unload crates of donated food and stock shelves for the spring Cougs in the Community project 13 p.m. Saturday, March 26. The WSU Vancouver Alumni Advisory Board has selected the Oregon Food Bank as the beneficiary.
The food bank can accommodate up to 50 volunteers. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. To participate, please e-mail van.alumni@vancouver.wsu.edu or call 360-546-9600.
More than 15,000 alumni live in southwest Washington and the Portland metropolitan region. Children age six and older are welcome to help with this family friendly effort.
The Oregon Food Bank works with a cooperative, statewide network of partner agencies to distribute emergency food to hungry families. In addition, the organization works to fight hunger’s root causes through public policy, outreach and education.
One in five Oregonians struggles with hunger, according to the Oregon Food Bank, and 33 percent of those receiving emergency food are children. Children who are hungry get sick more often and have more trouble learning in school.
Cougs in the Community began in fall 2009. Projects are coordinated two times a year. So far Cougar volunteers have benefitted Second Step Housing, Northwest Children’s Outreach and Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation.