Food bank project needs more funds

With less than a month to go before Sisters Kiwanis breaks ground for a new food bank structure, the fund-raising portion of the project remains active.

Construction costs have been re-calculated at just under $125,000; $25,427 is still needed to reach the club's goal.

Sisters Kiwanis has raised $99,513 to date, including donations from individual donors who met the $10,000 matching grant from The Roundhouse Foundation, a $1,000 donation from the City of Sisters, as well as a donation of $5,000 from Central Electric Co-op.

Sisters Kiwanis applied for several grants, but, at this point, only The Roundhouse Foundation came back with a matching grant. According to Sisters Kiwanis, it is possible that none of the remaining foundations will contribute funds for the project.

According to the Census Bureau, 6.9 percent of the Sisters Country population is living below the poverty level and 10.8 percent of children under the age of 18 years old are under the poverty level.

When a family's monthly allotment of food stamps runs out - and they often do after three weeks - the local Food Bank steps in to supply emergency food and pantry items such as pasta, beans, corn, cereal, bread, meat, milk and other basic staples.

Over the last six months, Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank gave emergency food supplies to an average of 201 adults and 105 children in the community each month.

Kiwanis officials calculate that, with 1,160 children in the school district, that means that since the start of the school year one in 10 students would otherwise be "food insecure."

The existing Sisters Food Bank has stored and distributed food since 1983.

The current food bank facility is considered unsafe and is falling apart. Ceilings are too low, heat and cold conditions are too extreme and the building is unstable.

Sisters Kiwanis is preparing to tear down the old garage and construct a new food bank building on May 1. To get there, the club needs a final push from the community. To contribute to the Kiwanis Club of Sisters, send a tax-deductible donation to: Kiwanis Club of Sisters, P.O. Box 1296, Sisters, OR 97759. Indicate that you would like your donation to go to the new food bank building.