When Hunger is not a Game

Wendy Edwards
Vice President of Marketing & Human Resources
503-785-2569
wedwards@advantiscu.org

Claudia Johnson
Claudia Johnson Strategic Communications
503-799-2220
claudia@claudiajohnson.com

Misti Rooney
Community Relations Officer
503-785-2548
mrooney@advantiscu.org

The Spring Hunger Gap arrives every year right on time creating a challenge to continue feeding one of the hungriest states in the Union; now, Advantis Credit Union’s GROW fund helps local non-profits keep up with a demand that is just not waning

Portland, OR (April, 2012)–Hunger doesn’t take a holiday. When the December donation rush tapers off in January and charitable people go back to their daily lives, hungry families continue to be just that — hungry.  For them, daily life means worry about the source of their next meal.  SnowCap relieves more than 10,000 of East Metro’s hungry and homeless by opening food pantries around the area. The bar is set high for local non-profits to rescue the victims of a downturned economy, especially in Oregon — one of the hungriest states in the nation according to the Oregon Food Bank.  In turn, the current economy can have a negative effect on many non-profits also dependent on being fueled from the communities they serve.

When Portland’s Advantis Credit Union launched GROW, the Advantis Community Fund, their intention was to help out struggling non-profits such as SnowCap with sustainable capital improvement to serve even more people. By creating a $50,000 fund to bolster small- and moderate-sized non-profits with grants of up to $10,000, organizations can thrive and tend to the needs of those desperate for help.

SnowCap is using their $9,000 grant to purchase new food preparation equipment, plumbing, bulk food storage containers and more to be able to serve more families in need. Through their food pantry, food delivery services, and other charitable services, Snowcap will continue to help out their neighbors. And they won’t stop serving hungry people during the Spring Hunger Gap when food donations taper off until the next holiday surge.

“Advantis’ generous grant enables us to upgrade our food equipment and storage to better serve more families nutritious pre-packaged meals,” says Kirsten Wageman, program and development director at SnowCap.  “Rather than giving families huge 50 pound bags of foods that may perish, we can prepare complete meals which makes a huge difference.”

About Advantis
Advantis Credit Union, with over $866 million in assets, is one of Oregon’s largest member-owned not-for-profit, financial cooperatives with over 46,000 members and five branches in the Portland metro area. Advantis is one of the oldest credit unions in Oregon, serving the Portland metro area for over 84 years. Membership is open to anyone who lives, works or is a member of an organization in Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Hood River, Lane, Linn, and Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington, or Yamhill counties in Oregon and anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in the state of Washington.

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