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Major Gift Will Fight Hunger

March 02, 2010

Anonymous Donor Gives $301,000 for the

Present and Future Work of FOOD For Lane County

Vote of confidence comes with a community challenge.

 

Eugene, OR (March 2, 2010) – FOOD For Lane County is pleased to announce a major gift designed to help meet immediate and future hunger needs in the community.

       This generous donation is two-fold.  First, $200,000 is allocated to help FFLC feed more people during this time when thousands of people are still out of work and need extra help.  “This unexpected gift will help us feed more people allowing us to better support our current programs,” says Michael Drennan, FFLC’s Board Chair. “We will also do some crucial projects directly related to distributing food that have been on hold because of other, more urgent needs.”  FOOD For Lane County distributed a record six and a half million pounds of food last year, and is currently sending out more food each month than it receives. With Lane County’s unemployment rate still in double digits, the situation is unlikely to change.

       “Current economic stresses make this gift critically and strategically important,” says Drennan. “This gift from one person’s heart will touch the lives of many people who are served by FOOD For Lane County. Per the donor’s wishes, we are using this opportunity to challenge  the community to double the impact of her gift.”

       “The donor decided to give anonymously in order to keep the focus on FOOD For Lane County’s excellent and crucial work.  She asked me to share that she feels grateful to be able to give at a time when many people are struggling,” says Ellen Adler, the donor’s attorney, who facilitated the gift through the Oregon Community Foundation.  “She hopes others will see this gift as an invitation to give too, in whatever amount or way that they are able, to support our neighbors in these tough times.”

             The $101,000 balance of the donation will match the money raised for the recently created FOOD for the Future endowment fund.  The FFLC Board of Directors believes this community should be secure in the knowledge that the food bank will be here to feed hungry people as long as there is a need to do so.

            The opportunity to create the endowment fund came last fall when FOOD For Lane County was named a beneficiary in a local woman’s will. After the Board designated the bequest as seed money, attendees at the fall dinner/auction were challenged to be founding contributors to the endowment. Adler says her client appreciates the importance of FOOD For Lane County’s planning for the long-term so she generously matched the initial FOOD for the Future endowment fund.  The result is $202,000 which is being placed with The Oregon Community Foundation in its professionally managed endowment investment funds.

       “It’s a privilege to help connect The Oregon Community Foundation’s donors to nonprofits doing great work. Now, more than ever, these connections are vital to our community’s health,” says Jennifer Durand, Donor Relations Officer, in the Eugene OCF office.

 

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