What a great group of young people from OSU!! A group of Oregon State University students is spending the summer touring the nation - and Oregon - to gain ideas on how to end hunger. The students are observing the work of innovative nonprofits that are successfully matching food availability to those in need.

We were honored to have them come to our office as one of their stops. They had heard about Love INC's F.A.R.M. program (Feeding Area Residents Meat) program. As many of you know, this is a program where people donate livestock to Love INC. We receive a grant each year to pay for cutting and wrapping and the meat is shared with local non-profits such as Stone Soup, Monroe's Senior Nutritional Program, Southside Youth Outreach, Jackson St. Youth Shelter and many others. The meat is also used for our Managing Your Money classes as an incentive.

This year we were given 4.25 steer, 11 hogs, 2 lambs and a goat through the 4-H auction at the Benton County Fair. That is a LOT of nutritious food. We are also given occasional animals throughout the year.

The students had also learned about the That's My Farmer program here in Benton County. People in local churches purchase $18.00 worth of coupons for the Farmer's Market. They pay $20.00 for them and the difference is used to give coupons to low income families to enable them to buy fresh food at the market. If your church would like to participate, we can connect you to the program.

I'm grateful that we and our partnering churches can work together with so many others to help ease hunger and food insecurity in such creative ways. Together we help fulfill Christ's mandate to "feed the hungry".