Overview:

After local families lost SNAP benefits, school district staff and families moved fast to keep food on the table.

When Bethel community members heard that food stamp benefits would be cut starting Nov. 1, they built a plan overnight.

Staff and administrators with the Bethel School District, leaders from the Bethel Education Foundation and the directors of the Clear Lake Community Center and Bethel Health Center met on Oct. 30 to figure out how to keep food on the table for families.

Plans were already forming for a staff food drive to support families affected by the loss of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding when foundation executive director Kristin King suggested expanding it to the broader community.

The groups joined forces. Within a day, collection bins stood at every district school, kicking off a weeklong drive. By Saturday, staff and National Honor Society students gathered at the community center to sort donations and pack boxes while neighbors continued to drop off food.

“It feels very Bethel that those ideas kind of sprung up independently, and then we just can get everyone in the room and say, ‘All right, how can we make this happen so that we can get food in families’ hands?’” said Sarah Appelbaum, a family navigator for the school district.

Community members donated enough to fill about 120 boxes. Each school will receive at least 10 to distribute to families most in need, Appelbaum said, noting that roughly a third of the items include Latino food staples.

Appelbaum said families she works with felt relief when some SNAP benefits returned Friday, but uncertainty remains.

“Our goal is always to make food as accessible as possible to families,” Appelbaum said. “These boxes will go out to schools, so that way they have it on hand when a family shows up in the front office and says, ‘Hey, we need a food box.’”

Boxes of food donations at Clear Lake Community Center, which will be sent to Bethel School District schools.

Answering the call

West Kaufman, a teacher at Kalapuya High School who volunteered at Saturday’s drive, said students showed up the day after it became apparent that SNAP benefits were in jeopardy asking what the school planned to do to help.

“Students were immediately really concerned, and we had families calling asking, ‘What resources are available at Kalapuya?’” Kaufman said.

The district and school have some discretionary funds for emergency aid, but they don’t cover the widespread need, Kaufman said. 

Kalapuya also already runs a year-round food pantry open by request for families facing shortages, and the school put in two additional orders for shelf-stable goods to Food for Lane County last week. 

After staff set out two carts of WinCo baked goods, only three bags remained by the end of the day — at a school with fewer than 100 students, Kaufman said.

“That just shows you kind of the scope of the need, especially this time of year,” Kaufman said, adding: “These instances, these small shocks in our system, can remind us how precarious many of our economic situations are.”

On Saturday, cars pulled in and out of the Clear Lake Community Center parking lot as volunteers like Brooke Cottle, the director of Bethel Health Center, unloaded food from neighbors’ trunks and hauled wagons full of donations inside.

Each time she finished a trip, another car arrived.

Bethel schools had already surveyed families to identify those anticipating food insecurity in November and December. Cottle said they now keep a “running list” of households that need help most.

Lines stretched out the door Thursday at the Bethel Family Resource Center’s food pantry, which welcomes all community members, and people waited nonetheless, she said. Abby’s Legendary Pizza donated 20 pies to feed people waiting in line.

“It’s really rewarding to hear and to see so many people just show up,” Cottle said. “I think that’s the magic of Bethel.”

One of those people was Maren Widmer, 17, who spent the day sorting food after learning about the drive through her National Honor Society coordinator. 

“I just know that it’s a huge problem right now and I wanted to help out as much as possible,” she said.

Bethel-area food resources:

A previous version of this story misstated Sarah Appelbaum’s title. Appelbaum is a family navigator for the Bethel School District.

Grace Chinowsky graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in journalism. She served as editor-in-chief of the university’s independent student newspaper, The GW Hatchet, and interned at CNN and MSNBC. Grace covers Eugene’s city government and the University of Oregon.