Organizer John Javna greets a Coordinator at the food drop-off on Saturday

John Javna, Organizer and a Founder of the Medford Food Project (which includes Jacksonville) reports, “The MFP collected more than 25,000 lbs of food! (We won’t be sure of exact totals until the end of the week). Not only is that a record for the MFP, it’s a record for any food project group… The Food Projects in Jackson County (including Ashland, Talent, Phoenix) collected more than 52,000 lbs of food in one day, one bag at a time.”

Javna noted in  an email to Neighborhood Coordinators, “That is remarkable.”

The total for the MFP’s first year: 91,000 lbs. of food.

Other interesting statistics from Javna: Countywide, the Food Projects collected more than 235,000 lbs of food this year. The MFP ended the year with about 2,150 donors and 140 Neighborhood Coordinators. Countywide, we’re just a little shy of 5,000 donors.

Volunteers sort the food as it is delivered by Neighborhood Coordinators Saturday behind ACCESS

Javna also wanted to share that,  “Every green bag and donor matters. When you have 2,000 bags, you don’t notice if one or two are missing. But that’s the paradox of grassroots organizing. Once you have a group, the individuals don’t seem to matter as much. But the group is made up of individuals. So in truth, every single individual is essential. because every individual is an equal part of the group; the group gets a little of its strength from each donor, each bag.

This is something to remember in those times when we feel — as we all do — that we’re “not good enough.”  If this isn’t good enough, then I don’t know what is.”

As one can tell, Javna is very proud of the accomplishments of the MFP – and he should be! What a great effort by so many to help in a very-needed way.

Food donated to the Medford Food Project is collected every other month, delivered by Neighborhood Coordinators to a drop-off site behind ACCESS, and distributed. With the assistance of MFP Founding Chair, Philip Yates (nutrition director of ACCESS), the MFP brought a group of 19 food pantries together, representing a variety of organizations in the area: the St. Vincent DePaul Society, St Mark’s Episcopal Church, the Maslow Project, the Northwest Seasonal Workers, the Medford Gospel Mission, God’s Pantry, the Gleaners Network, and many more. It was decided, in the spirit of true collaboration, that every pantry— regardless of its size — gets an equal share of the food.

For more information about the Medford Food Project, visit www.medfordfoodproject.com. In Jacksonville, you may call Regional Coordinator, Jerrine Rowley at 541-702-2223.