U.S. Attorney office donates 2,000 items to Lane County food bank

Almost 500 pounds of food from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Eugene reached Food for Lane County this week, a delivery officials said amounts to about 395 meals for Lane County families, seniors and children facing food insecurity. The donation was part of a larger drive that brought more than 2,000 items to pantries in Portland, Eugene and Medford.

The collection was announced by U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford as part of Freedom 250, a nationwide effort tied to America’s 250th birthday in which U.S. Attorneys’ Offices are leading gift-in-kind drives for local communities. Staff from all three Oregon offices took part in the collection, then passed the food on to local hunger-relief organizations serving their own regions.

In Lane County, the items went to Food for Lane County, whose main office is at 770 Bailey Hill Road in Eugene and whose network reaches across the county through pantries, meal sites and other programs. The organization says it works with 150 partner agencies, including 34 food pantries and more than 100 supplemental food programs, to get food to people who need it most.

That reach has become more important as pantry traffic climbs. Rebecca Sprinson, the organization’s director of development, said, “We’ve actually observed an over 100% increase in visits to food pantries around the county.” The increase, which Food for Lane County says has been building since 2022, shows how quickly a one-time donation can disappear once it is divided among the households relying on shelves that are already stretched thin.

Food for Lane County says its mission is to reduce hunger by engaging the community to create access to food. In practice, that means the Eugene office’s donation will be spread through the countywide system of pantries and meal programs, where even a modest load of staples can help fill empty cabinets and stretch a grocery budget for a few more days. Bradford said he was proud of staff for coming together to support families in their local communities through the drive, but in Lane County the larger story remains the same: the need is steady, and the demand at neighborhood pantry doors keeps rising.