News Release

Celebrating 20 years of blues, community
and fighting hunger

Donations to benefit fight against hunger

PORTLAND , Ore. (June 12, 2007) — All Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival admission donations directly benefit Oregon Food Bank's work to eliminate hunger and its root causes … because no one should be hungry.

The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival has raised more than 1.2 million pounds of food and $3.4 million dollars to help fight hunger over the last 20 years.

Five-day festival grounds passes are for sale in advance through TicketsWest for $25 plus a small convenience fee. To purchase tickets, call TicketsWest at 503-224-8499 or 1-800-992-8499, or visit www.ticketswest.com.

Most wanted foods
Oregon Food Bank needs these nutritious foods:

• canned meats (i.e., tuna, chicken, salmon)
• canned and boxed meals (i.e., soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese)
• peanut butter
• canned or dried beans and peas (i.e., black, pinto, lentils)
• pasta, rice, cereal
• canned fruits
• 100 percent fruit juice (canned, plastic or boxed).

Oregon Food Bank can't use:
To ensure food safety, we cannot use:

• rusty or unlabeled cans
• perishable items
• homemade items
• noncommercial canned or packaged items
• alcoholic beverages, mixes or soda
• open or used items

Why both food and funds matter

Food drives provide some of the healthiest and highest-quality food we receive and are a direct connection between donors and people who are hungry.

Cash donations keep our freezers running and our trucks on the road. They also support innovative programs that address the root causes of hunger through advocacy and public education.

Oregon Food Bank makes efficient use of cash donations.

Every dollar you donate enables Oregon Food Bank to collect and distribute 6 pounds of food worth more than $7 and fund programs that address the root causes of hunger.

Although Oregon is no longer the hungriest state in the nation, hunger continues to be a huge problem. In an average month, an estimated 194,000 people rely on food from emergency food boxes to stave off hunger in Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Of those, 38 percent are children.

Oregon Food Bank is a nonprofit, charitable organization. It is the hub of a statewide network of 894 hunger-relief agencies serving Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Oregon Food Bank recovers food from farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, individuals and government sources. It then distributes that food to 20 regional food banks across Oregon . Sixteen are independent charitable organizations. OFB directly operates the four regional food banks serving the Portland metro area, southeast Oregon and Tillamook County . Those four centers distribute food weekly to more than 300 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other programs helping low-income individuals in Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah , Washington , Malheur, Harney and Tillamook counties. Oregon Food Bank also works to eliminate the root causes of hunger through advocacy, nutrition education and public education.

About festival sponsors. The 2006 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is presented by First Tech Credit Union with major sponsorship by CO-OP Network, iQ Credit Union, FedEx Freight, DaimlerChrysler Truck Financial, Delta Music Experience, HSBC, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Chipotle, Miller Brewing, KINK fm102 and The Oregonian A&E.

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