Brown Bag food program offers hand up

Sisters' Brown Bag food program, which has been offering help for those in need in Sisters for eight years, is making a move from its current site at Sisters Christian Church to Three Sisters Fellowship, at 442 Trinity Way off McKinney Butte Road. The change is effective September 1, 2010. The move became necessary due to the closing of Sisters Christian Church in January.

"We need a nonprofit to keep the program running," said Jacki Shepardson, program coordinator. "Three Sisters Fellowship wants to expand the program and make it more viable through their Bread of Life Ministry."

More and more people have been participating in the program which offers perishable foods to those in need.

"It's a hand up and not a handout, and provides a way to eliminate waste," Shepardson said. "Some of the more spoiled food is salvaged by families for their pigs and chickens."

The Brown Bag program allows one bag of groceries for every person in the household. The people get to choose what they can use themselves. No application is required. All are welcome.

Sisters Brown Bag serves 40 families, about 170 individuals every month.

On the second Friday of the month at 3:30 p.m. NeighborImpact delivers perishable foods collected from grocery stores and restaurants in Bend and Redmond.

Sisters Bakery is the only local contributor to the Brown Bag program and has participated in the program since its inception in 2002.

"Melissa (Ward, owner of Sisters Bakery) is a hero," said Shepardson, who personally picks up the food from the bakery. "She makes it possible for us to give quality baked goods to our recipients."

The Brown Bag program will officially kick off at the new site at Three Sisters Fellowship on September 10 at 3:30 p.m.

"Our community desperately needs to expand the program at this time in our economy," Shepardson said.

"This program allows me to save money for surgery," said one participant.

The program is important to another participant, "especially right now, when we're at the end of the month and the financial stream. It's food that would be wasted, so it makes sense to use it."

As part of Bread of Life, Three Sisters Fellowship hopes to set up a meal program and offer a meal to anyone who needs one.

Shepardson has also championed "food gleaning" programs offered twice a week in Sisters. One on Mondays from 5 to 6 p.m. and one on Thursday from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Shepardson collects the food in the back of her station wagon from Trader Joe's in Bend and Sisters Bakery in Sisters. Volunteers also help gather from stores and restaurants in Sisters.

For more information contact Three Sisters Fellowship at 541-549-4184.