CANNON BEACH - City officials are looking for a few good people to help feed the hungry.
After several failed attempts to start a food pantry in Cannon Beach, the City Council appears to be taking a more serious look at the problem of feeding between 80 and 125 families in town who need food.  The only things missing are volunteers, money, an adequate location and a 501(c)3 designation.  "There are community groups all over town who could be contacted, " said Cannon Beach Mayor Jay Raskin. "We could generate a group similar to what we did with the farmers market." The need for a food pantry in Cannon Beach isn't new, noted City Councilor Nancy Giasson during a recent council work session, but it may be time to establish one, she said.
Councilor Sam Steidel agreed. "If a structure is found, we could figure out who might sponsor it," he said. "But we can't do anything until people come forward."A project manager would be needed to organize a food pantry, but, so far, the city hasn't budgeted for a food pantry, said Councilor Melissa Cadwallader. Some food is available already, said Marlin Martin, food program developer for the Clatsop County Regional Food Bank, who spoke at the work session. Two full pallets of food have been stored for an eventual Cannon Beach food pantry. In addition, $2,000 of the $6,000 the city's Parks and Community Services Committee allocated to Clatsop Community Action also has been set aside for the pantry. It would take at least $20,000 a year to help pay for food for Cannon Beach families; the Seaside Food Bank budgets between $40,000 and $50,000.
St. Vincent DePaul in Seaside is also interested in establishing a satellite food pantry in Cannon Beach, Marlin said. We've got to find a way to service this city. We've got to find a way," he added. George Sabol, executive director of Clatsop Community Action, said his office is committed to helping Cannon Beach. "We do want this to happen," he said. "People think that everyone in Cannon Beach has money, but no, they don't." Other attempts have occurred, noted Giasson, who brought the need to the council's attention. Giasson, who works at Community Presbyterian Church, recounted how Clatsop Community Action had twice searched for a suitable location to store and distribute food and had sought help from local volunteers, including church members. However, the church's congregation didn't feel it could commit the number of volunteers and the amount of time it would take to operate a pantry, Giasson said.  When a windstorm took out electric power for six days last December, the Seaside Food Bank helped during the first 24 hours by sending food, but trees blocked the roads, and delivering the food became quite an effort, Giasson noted. If Cannon Beach had had its own storehouse, feeding local residents would have been easier, she said. Earlier this year, Martin and Sabol thought they might have found a location at Elk Creek Terrace Apartments, but the room was too small. However, the food bank is still trying to work out something there, Sabol said. To store food, refrigeration must be available, and the room must be at least 300 square feet large to hold large quantities. A distribution area also is needed. If that cannot be found, the food bank may be able to deliver preassembled food boxes in a "mobile" food pantry that could travel to Cannon Beach once or twice a month. "It certainly would not be the answer to a food pantry, but it could fulfill the need," Martin said. Families who can't afford high gas prices are piling into one car and heading to Seaside or Warrenton to obtain food boxes from pantries, Martin said. "As we enter this economic period, there's more concern," he added. A box will supply enough food for a family of about three people. All of the Clatsop County pantries prohibit families from receiving boxes more than once a month. Of those receiving food boxes, 40 percent are below age 18, Martin said.
More people are seeking assistance from both the food bank and the community action office since the economy took a downturn, Sabol said. "During the past six weeks, we've had people calling our office looking for help of all kinds. They say they have never had to do this before," he said. Besides finding a location, developing a way to pay for food also has blocked the start-up of a pantry. The food bank doesn't supply food to pantries unless the pantries can pay for it, Martin noted. "We don't charge for food. We charge for the shared losses incurred in operating the food bank," he said. Pantries can share in the surplus products the food bank receives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but the food bank has received fewer and fewer USDA goods, Martin said. However, those products are projected to increase next year, he added. If they are 501(c)3 organizations with nonprofit status, food pantries can often find discounts or work out agreements with food suppliers, and they can organize local food and fund-raising drives, he said. "If you want long-term success as a pantry, you need to find a group or organization that is willing to do it. There has to be a passion; it has to come from the heart," Martin said. "We can't buy our way out of hunger. We have to find a way to stop it."

By NANCY MCCARTHY
The Daily Astorian