Portland Food Donation Cornucopia

So Fred Meyer’s got this coupon where you get a free, frozen turkey when you buy $100 worth of groceries. And we ALWAYS spend $100 on groceries, especially the weekend before Thanksgiving.

But we don’t actually need a turkey, right? Nor do we have room in our tiny freezer. But a free turkey is a free turkey, so we took it. We figured we’d be able to find some organization who’d love it. 

Bang! A Google search for “Food Donation, Portland” turned up Metro’s “Fork It Over”  food donation program.

Once there, click on the Find a Food Rescue Program link:

You fill in a quick form with your address and the type of food you have to donate. You get a staggering array of charitable organizations. The site tells you where the food rescue program is, their phone number, and if they’ll send someone by to pick up the food. 

Is this a ground-breaking application? Not really. It just impresses me when a government site is genuinely useful and filled with great information. And best of all, there were easily 50 programs within 10 miles of my house.

After making a few calls, I picked “Outsider’s Outreach,” which is run by a neighbor. All volunteers. He has all the freezers and fridges and food crammed into his tiny garage. From there, he and all his volunteers provide three meals a week to homeless folks “out in the field,” as he said. Translated: they set up a banquet under a freeway overpass. He was genuinely thankful for the turkey, and would love a few more.