KOBI Spirit of Community Moment: Maslow Project

KOBI: Life can be hard but getting help shouldn’t be. Oregon-based Maslow Project understands that basic needs must be met before children and their families can focus on higher goals. Here’s another Spirit of Community Moment.

KOBI: Homeless children are twice as likely to be hungry, four times likely to be sick and seven times more likely to attempt suicide. It’s a crisis the Maslow Project faces head on.

Amy Cuddy: I think it's really humbling to see the tremendous needs that there are in our community. And equally humbling to see the great work of organizations like the Maslow Project who are really on the front lines trying to meet those needs.

KOBI: Amy Cuddy is the Former Southern Oregon Regional Director for Oregon Community Foundation. She and OCF have supported Maslow since it began.

AC: It's working on short term needs, like making sure that hungry teenagers aren't hungry, and longer term needs like breaking down barriers to keep kids in school.

KOBI: When Mary Ferrell founded the Maslow Project in the mid 2000’s, she would fill the trunk of her car with donated items, and then distribute them. Perhaps enough to help 80 people a year.

Mary Ferrell: …and now we serve on average of 2,500 to 3,000 individuals every year between Jackson and Josephine County.

KOBI: And Maslow serves in many ways all over Southern Oregon. You’ll even see their street outreach teams on bikes carrying snacks and clothing. Mary wants you to know how you can help.

MF: One of the easiest ways that people can help is to go through their pantry and see if they have food that's ready to eat - some cereals, peanut butter, bread, granola bars, ideally, high nutrition, low preparation needs. Our pantries are bare, as you can see, and we always need extra food to help feed the kids and the families are out there, which is essentially hungry. And we also have an ongoing need for things like school supplies, hygiene supplies…

KOBI: If you’d like to help make Southern Oregon a better place to live, visit Oregon Community Foundation at oregoncf.org.

This from KOBI TV's "Oregon Community Foundation: Spirit of Community" series.