College Football's "Civil War" to Benefit OR Food Bank

Fans of the Oregon Ducks and Oregon Beavers don't generally agree on things...except this month. In December, their rivalry is being put to charitable use, to benefit the Oregon Food Bank network. People can make small cash donations and root for their teams at the same time, by cell phone. Sending a text message to 2-0-2-2-2, you can text "GoDucks5" or "GoBeavs5" to make a five-dollar donation. Substitute the number 10 and it's a 10-dollar donation, which will then appear on the cell phone bill. In Corvallis, Ryan McCambridge with Linn-Benton Food Share says the money is much-needed.

"We're seeing 13,000 individuals eating from an emergency food box each month, just in our two-county area, and this has been going on for months on end now – which is, as you can imagine, unprecedented."

McCambridge says O-S-U staff members and students are big backers of the Food Bank. Many volunteer during the year, and the school also has a month-long food drive in February.
In the home county of the Beavers, one in three residents is eligible for emergency food assistance...although the proceeds from this "Civil War Food Battle" will benefit every corner of the state, according to Dawn Woodward with Food for Lane County in Eugene.

"Twenty-five percent of the money is going to come to Food for Lane County, and 25 percent will go to Linn-Benton Food Share. And the other 50 percent is going to be distributed throughout Oregon, to the other food banks."

Woodward says the U of O is a major contributor of canned goods and volunteers throughout the year, and also shares its surplus prepared foods from cafeterias with the local Food Bank.
The cell phone fundraiser, dubbed the "Civil War Food Battle," runs through December. The Oregon Food Bank hopes to make it an annual event.