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News release

Donations benefit fight against hunger

PORTLAND, Ore.— All Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival admission donations directly benefit Oregon Food Bank's work to eliminate hunger and its root causes … because no one should be hungry.

The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival has raised more than 1.25-million pounds of food and $3.5-million dollars to help fight hunger over the last 21 years. 

Admission is a donation of $10 and two cans of food per person per day. 

Four-day Festival Grounds Passes, special Blues Buddy and exclusive Blues Benefactor passes are for sale in advance at www.waterfrontbluesfest.com via Tickets Oregon. 

Most wanted foods
Oregon Food Bank needs these nutritious foods:

• canned meats (i.e., tuna, chicken, salmon)
• canned and boxed meals (i.e., soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese)
• peanut butter
• canned or dried beans and peas (i.e., black, pinto, lentils)
• pasta, rice, cereal
• canned fruits
• 100 percent fruit juice (canned, plastic or boxed).

Oregon Food Bank can't use:
To ensure food safety, we cannot use:

• rusty or unlabeled cans
• perishable items
• homemade items
• noncommercial canned or packaged items
• alcoholic beverages, mixes or soda
• open or used items

Why both food and funds matter
Food drives provide some of the healthiest and highest-quality food we receive and are a direct connection between donors and people who are hungry.

Cash donations keep our freezers running and our trucks on the road. They also support innovative programs that address the root causes of hunger through advocacy and public education.

Oregon Food Bank makes efficient use of cash donations.
Your $10 donation enables Oregon Food Bank to collect and distribute enough food to fill an emergency food box to supply a family for three to five days.

In an average month, an estimated 192,000 people rely on food from emergency food boxes to stave off hunger in Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Of those, 37 percent are children.

About Oregon Food Bank
Oregon Food Bank is a nonprofit, charitable organization. It is the hub of a statewide network of 919 hunger-relief agencies serving Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Oregon Food Bank recovers food from farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, individuals and government sources. It then distributes that food to 20 regional food banks across Oregon. Sixteen are independent charitable organizations. OFB directly operates the four regional food banks serving the Portland metro area, southeast Oregon and Tillamook County. Those four centers distribute food weekly to more than 300 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other programs helping low-income individuals in Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah, Washington, Malheur, Harney and Tillamook counties. Oregon Food Bank also works to eliminate the root causes of hunger through advocacy, nutrition education and public education.

About festival sponsors: The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is presented by First Tech Credit Union. Major sponsors include FedEx Freight, PacificSource Health Plans, iQ Credit Union, Daimler Truck Financial, Land Rover, The Oregonian A&E, KINK.fm and Travel Portland. Supporting sponsors include Burt’s Bees, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Miller Brewing Co., Henry Weinhard's, Deschutes Brewery, Beringer Wine, Snapple, Pepsi, Nutrisoda, Earth2o Water, Frito Lay Snacks, Yoshida Sauce, Mission Foods, Dreyer’s Ice Cream, NW Natural, FedEx Kinko’s, Impact Advertising, Edge Design, The Boeing Company, PGE, KBOO, OregonLive.com, Blues Revue, Music Millennium, Karolyn March, Guitar Center, Lions Foundation, Cascade Blues Association, Oregon Potters Association, Cascade Zydeco and Delta Music Experience.