Hour 63: Chiloquin Food Pantry at Cycle Oregon

Cycle Oregon is a 25 year old annual bike ride, each year a different ~400 mile loop is chosen within the state. Each day of the ride ends in a predetermined spot. A small, temporary tent town is set up each night, a place the bikers can call home for a night. Complete with meal tents, beer gardens, small stages for entertainment and even yoga. The place is full of bicyclists, but also with those who are shuttling the bicyclists’ gear, event organizers, supporters, bike repair specialitst and a host of individuals who volunteer their efforts to set up/take down/and provide meal service.

 As a supporter of the Chiloquin Food Pantry, I worked to serve breakfast on morning #2 of this year’s Cycle Oregon. The ride stopped just outside of the nearby community of Fort Klamath. This was a fundraising event for the Food Pantry, in that, for each helper the Pantry provided, Cycle Oregon paid the Food Pantry for their time.

Before sunrise we arrived at the temporary campground, still silent and frosty in the morning dark. The nearby Cascades were starting to show their outlines against the early dawn sky. The tent area, home to the 2,300 cyclists was near silent, only a few bicyclist were awake shivering in line for their turn for a port-a-potty. As we passed through the tent area, we could see the food tents lit with Christmas lights and stirring with chefs and servers.

Charlie Fundraising by Cleaning Up at Cycle Oregon 2012

 

It turned out that today’s route would take the riders up to and around the rim of nearby Crater Lake National Park. Many cyclists were waking up early to get as much time as they could around the outlandishly blue Crater Lake. My role today was to bust tables after the bikers had finished their breakfasts. As I started collecting plates, I began to wake up and notice many faces of fellow volunteers from Chiloquin (pop. 1700). I was happy to run into Charlie, a retired local who has a knack for photography and wood carvings, and his wife Liz. The food pantry was represented by a number of volunteers that morning, each bringing in money to fund the food pantry'c sontinued efforts to feed the needy in the Chiloquin area.

The sun came out, breakfast was finished, and the cyclists loaded their bags into large trucks (which would drive to the next stop on the tour). The riders pushed off, starting their uphill ride to the rim of Crater Lake, and I made my way down the hill into Chiloquin for the day’s work.

Kay, Director of the Food Pantry