On Wednesday, December 12, 2012, approximately 80 volunteers will gather at the Portland Police Sunshine Division Warehouse (687 N. Thompson, Portland, OR 97227) to pack an additional 1,500 holiday food boxes (for a total of 3,500) for local area families. Packing will begin at 5:30 p.m. and finish around 8:30 p.m. Pack night is an annual tradition for many local families, church groups, police officers and other volunteers. The Sunshine Division has enough volunteers for tonight and Wednesday, but will always welcome volunteers for delivery day (Saturday morning at 8am) or any other time at the warehouse to sort or stock food.
On Saturday, December 15, police officers and volunteers will deliver the 3,500 boxes to community members in need. The boxes are delivered from North Precinct, East Precinct, Southeast Sub-precinct and the Sunshine Warehouse, beginning at 8 a.m. Officer Phil Kent will be at the Sunshine Division Warehouse this Saturday morning and will be delivering food boxes with a volunteer group (a women’s varsity basketball team) from a local high school to families in need.
The Sunshine Division has been delivering holiday food boxes since their beginning in 1923. The Sunshine Division is now a year-round relief agency that provides emergency food and clothing directly to families and individuals in need. “This year, demand is up once again approximately 10% so far this calendar year for services directly through our front door for emergency food and clothing,” says Officer Phil Kent, Sunshine Division Development Director. “These boxes are already spoken for, but we continue to provide emergency food to people every day at the warehouse and any police officer can take food to a person in need 24 hours a day.”