THE JOSEPHINE COUNTY FOOD BANK
Presented by Executive Director Kevin Widdison
Kevin Widdison is the director of the Josephine County Food Bank and its Raptor Creek Farm. Working with its two dozen partner agencies, the Food Bank is part of a network that feeds more than 11,000 people in Josephine County every month. Some of those partners are pantries that provide emergency food boxes directly to low-income residents, while others such as Food & Friends and St. Vincent de Paul use ingredients from the Food Bank to prepare hot meals for senior citizens and other in need. Raptor Creek Farm produces an average of 35,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables each year for distribution.
As of April 29, the Food Bank is now an independent nonprofit organization, after being part of the United Community Action Network since 2005. The Josephine County Food Bank was established in 1990.
Kevin grew up in Portland and worked as a journalist for 38 years before signing on as director of the Food Bank earlier this year. For 21 of those years, he worked at the Daily Courier, serving 17 years as city editor and four years as editor. He and his wife, Eileen, have two grown children, Frances and Ben.