Seaside Aquarium is ready to kick off the holiday season with the “Feed the Seals, Feed the Community” annual food drive! For 35 years the Seaside Aquarium has been working with the South County Community Food Bank to provide nutritious food to families throughout Seaside, Gearhart and Cannon Beach that face food insecurity.
Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day patrons can pay admission to the Seaside Aquarium with two cans of food per person! Food items are collected at the Aquarium then sorted, checked and stocked on the shelves of the Seaside based food bank for clients in Southern Clatsop County. According to Darren Gooch, Board President of the South County Community Food Bank the “Feed the Seals, Feed the Community” along with other local food drives are critical in sustaining the families, children and seniors that do not have regular access to nutritious food.
“Food Drives like this also add a certain amount of variety to the types of food we offer and this variety is important both from the standpoint of nutrition, but also for those who may have dietary restrictions,” explains Gooch. While it is difficult to source specialty foods such as gluten-free through the regional food bank Gooch commented, “Food obtained through food drives and anonymous donations often contain these types of products, so we are increasingly able to meet more of the specific dietary needs of our clients.”
Over the past three decades the South County Community Food Bank has grown into one of the largest food distributors in the regional Oregon Food Bank network. Volunteers assist in serving 250,000 lbs of food to over 12,000 South County individuals annually. Without such incredible community support and local food drives, the food bank would not be able to afford to continue to provide the amount of food to each family that comes through the door. Public hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00pm- 4:00pm 2041 North Roosevelt Drive on the East side of Highway 101 across from the Seaside High School. Shelf-stable food, fresh produce, dairy, frozen food, refrigerated food, and bulk dry food products are boxed in a three to five day supply and offered to clients.
Be sure to “Feed the Seals, Feed the Community” this holiday season by bringing non-expired food items to the Seaside Aquarium! Admission is only two cans of food per person and Aquarium hours are 9:00am – 5:00pm every day. For more information be sure to call the helpful Aquarium Staff at 503.738.6211.
