Food share brings holiday cheer

Some 190 Sisters Country families - including 425 pets - enjoyed a holiday dinner with all the trimmings last week, thanks to an extensive volunteer effort on the part of the Sisters Kiwanis Club, the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department, The Nugget and a wide range of community organizations and individual volunteers.

The club and other volunteers distributed food packages on Wednesday, December 23.

"It just went great," said Kiwanian Barbara Johnson, who assists Naomi Rowe in organizing the program. "I can't say enough about the volunteers. In fact, it makes me cry."

Each year, the Sisters community rallies to help those who are less fortunate, donating food and cash to the Kiwanis Food Drive. Sisters Community Church and Sisters High School Key Club members organize their own massive food drives to contribute to the program.

The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department places a "giving tree" at Ray's Food Place with ornaments identifying a child's gift request for a toy drive.

Those gifts often make Christmas for cash-strapped families.

"I saw a grandma of one of our families after it was all over and she was actually in tears," Johnson recalled. "She said, 'I don't know how the fire department knew exactly what to get those kids, but it made their Christmas.'"

Community members donate pet food or the cash to purchase it to The Nugget's Furry Friends Pet Food Drive, which ensures that pets - from dogs and cats to cockatiels and hamsters - are well fed in the depths of winter. That effort is boosted by corporate donations from American Nutrition and Hartz.

The number of families - surprisingly - declined this year; 190 were served, as opposed to 202 last year. Kiwanis had expected a marked increase, given that demand at the Kiwanis Food Bank has been high and growing for months.

Johnson speculates that the decline may reflect the fact that some families have been forced to leave Sisters due to job loss and general economic conditions. Then, too, she said, there is evidence that some people remain unaware of the program.

"I got a call on Thursday, Christmas Eve, from a lady asking if she could get Christmas food share, so I went down and put together a few bags for her," Johnson said. "She had just heard about it."

Large numbers of volunteers turned out to help - 4-H members; Cub Scouts; Boy Scouts; Girl Scouts; church members; Key Clubbers; Sisters High School alumni.

"We had people from the community just call... and ask if they could volunteer," Johnson said. "It was amazing. It was just amazing."

There is great satisfaction to be found in working on the program, according to David Hiller, who has been volunteering for the past 15 years.

"I think it's those smiles and tears and the hugs you get," Hiller said. "The satisfaction of being able to do something for them when they do so many things for the community that are hidden in the background."

Hiller notes that many of the families served by the food share program are longtime working families in Sisters who struggle to make ends meet in tourist-economy jobs. Many volunteer in the schools and at events and participate in the community with their time and passions, despite thin wallets.

Volunteers get as much from the program as those who are helped: "Whatever it is in a human being that allows us to enjoy (helping) someone else to receive pleasure - I think that does it."

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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