Fighting Hunger
Through the Roseburg Food Project, FISH Food Pantry and volunteers like Peggy Decker are working together to fight hunger in Douglas County.
Story by Sarah Smith Photos by Thomas Boyd
The motivation was simple: Peggy Decker saw a need in her community and wanted to help alleviate it.
“I have been involved in many volunteer positions over the years — many health related,” says Decker, a radiology information systems analyst and mammographer for CHI Mercy Health and volunteer with FISH Food Pantry. “I wanted to help with the hunger issue in Douglas County.”
An estimated 40 million Americans struggle with hunger, and one in six U.S. children may not know where their next meal is coming from. Closer to home, nearly 25 percent of Douglas County residents (more than 25,000 people) receive monthly SNAP (Supplemental Assistance Program) assistance. An estimated 14.2 percent of county adults report food insecurities and 22.8 percent of children worry about their next meal.
By volunteering for FISH Pantry, Mercy employee Peggy Decker not only gives of her time but also helps the organization earn financial support from Mercy through its Dollars for Doers program.
The FISH Food Pantry of Roseburg began in 1971 as a collective effort by five churches to reduce hunger in Douglas County and assist low-income families with emergency needs.
With the help of 73 neighborhood coordinators and 800 food donors, FISH is able to put food on the table of many vulnerable residents. The sponsoring churches provide financial support, food donations and volunteers. Part of a network of pantries that receive food from UCAN Food Bank, FISH is the largest of the 17 emergency food pantries serving Douglas County.
FISH launched the Roseburg Food Project in 2012.
“We became sold on the idea when John Javna (an Ashland resident who shared his idea with the Douglas County food pantries) used the phrase ‘building community,’” says Karla Roady, a volunteer project coordinator. “This simple phrase said it all. Pantry volunteers have long understood food poverty, but we are a small bunch in the context of the whole community.”
Neighbors participating in Roseburg Food Project donate a bag of food every two months. FISH supplies the bag and picks up the food, providing the pantry with a steady supply of nonperishable items, single-serving meals for seniors and basic toiletries.
Karla Roady stocks shelves at FISH Pantry.
“Years ago, when I first volunteered at the pantry, I had my first awareness of the feeling clients had when they had no food,” Roady says. “After leaving the pantry that day, I returned home to a full pantry of my own. As I looked at that pantry, I tried to imagine how I would feel if my pantry was empty. It was a sick feeling. I imagine our food donors having that same awareness when they are filling their own green bag. With each donor, we expand the comprehension and the compassion.”
Mercy’s Peggy Decker has been a Roseburg Food Project volunteer and neighborhood coordinator for two years. Her volunteer work for the pantry also results in financial contributions to the organization through Mercy’s Dollars for Doers program. Decker says being part of the project is heartwarming.
“My husband and I enjoy picking up green bags throughout my area,” she says. “It is so rewarding to see the kindness shown by everyone. It is a simple model. I purchase a few extra items when I shop and add them to my bag. We pick up green bags on the second Saturday of even-numbered calendar months.”
To learn more or to volunteer for the Roseburg Food Project, phone 541.673.9804 or email thefishrbg@gmail.com
