Contact:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
503-416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org
March 20, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OREGON SYMPHONY MUSICIANS TAKING PART
IN NATIONWIDE ‘ORCHESTRAS FEEDING AMERICA’ FOOD DRIVE
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – Musicians from the Oregon Symphony – joining hands and hearts in spirit with their colleagues at some 250 other orchestras across the United States and Canada – will participate in Orchestras Feeding America, a national food drive at concerts throughout March and April.
Barrels will be set up at all Oregon Symphony concerts between Mar. 21 and Apr. 25 at which concert-goers can drop off non-perishable food items that will be donated to the Oregon Food Bank.
Those performances include Pops concerts Mar. 21 and 22, Classical performances Apr. 4-6 and Apr. 18-20 and a special concert Apr. 25 with the Portuguese fado singer Mariza – all at downtown Portland’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall – as well as the orchestra’s annual Evelyn Nagel Donor Appreciation Concert Mar. 31 in the Newmark Theatre. Donations can also be dropped off at any time at the orchestra’s administrative offices downtown and the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 Washington St.
The musicians’ goal: one million pounds of donated food.
“I am extremely proud of our Oregon Symphony musicians and staff for stepping forward at this time of increasing need in our communities by becoming involved in the nationwide Orchestras Feeding America food drive,” said Oregon Symphony violinist Mary Ann Coggins Kaza, chair of the musicians’ food-drive effort.
“I am confident that other musicians and arts groups and our audiences will also be eager to help us reach our one-million-pound goal to help our local food-bank agencies care for those who need it most.”
The food drive is inspired by the soon-to-be-released film The Soloist, staring Jamie Foxx, about Nathaniel Ayers, a Juilliard-trained musician who became homeless in Los Angeles due to schizophrenia and has become a source of inspiration to many, including fellow musicians.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 36 million people – one in eight Americans – are currently at risk of hunger in the United States; 12 million of them are children. In December 2008, a Feeding America survey of 160 food banks nationwide discovered a 30 percent increase in demand for emergency food assistance compared to one year ago.
All the food donated at Oregon Symphony concerts will be passed on to the Oregon Food Bank, which serves as the hub of Oregon’s statewide hunger-relief network. The Oregon Food Bank collects and distributes food to 20 regional food banks across Oregon and directly operates four regional food banks serving the Portland Metropolitan area, Southeast Oregon, Tillamook County and Clark County, WA.
Food items most useful to the food bank include:
- canned meats (such as tuna, chicken, salmon);
- canned and boxed meals (such as soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese);
- canned or dried beans and peas (such as black, pinto and lentil);
- dried pasta, rice or cereal;
- canned fruit;
- 100 percent fruit juices (canned, plastic or boxed);
- cooking oils.
Donations of cash and checks for to the Oregon Food Bank in the name of the Oregon Symphony’s Orchestras Feeding America food drive will also be accepted at all donations sites. Credit cards may be used online at oregonfoodbank.org or by phone at (503) 282-0555.
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CONTACT:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
(503) 416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org