‘Wait, where’s
Chiliquin?’. Good question. Chiliquin is in southern Oregon, not far from the
California state line. And it is my home for the better part of 3 months. I am
working as the inspector for a construction project here this summer, and I’m
taking the oppurtunity to log a few volunteer hours in my temporary home.
Chiloquin is a depressed town; once a center for logging, and the former home
of the Klamath Tribes Indian Reservation. Timber is out and the Tribe sold the
reservation back to the federal government in the 1950’s, leaving many in this
small town to rely on government assistance. It didn’t take long for me to run
across the local food pantry, which collects food donations and distributes to
locals who receive food stamps. I joined a team of 10 or so other volunteers in
the monthly effort of gathering the food into the pantry and then trading the
donated food for stamps. I saw men, woman, young, old, disabled and fully abled
coming in to pick up food for themselves and their families. Like my
experiences in Portland, I see that you cannot make a blanket generalization to
encompass all the people that are receiving assistance.
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| Hauling Food Donations into the Pantry |
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