PORTLAND, Ore. — The KGW Great Food Drive is underway this week, and KGW is highlighting community partners helping us fight hunger.
During last year’s food drive, we featured the story of a North Portland woman who has dedicated her life to helping those in her community.
Now at 82-years-old, Mariah Taylor is still going strong. Each Wednesday, she drives to Woodlawn Elementary School in Northeast Portland where volunteers load up her van with unused food from the school’s food pantry. Taylor then distributes that food to the homeless around town.
“Miss Mariah is one of a kind. She does everything from her heart. She is filled with happiness by serving those around her,” said Mary Evans with the Woodlawn Food Pantry.
“I am there to bring them hope, not just food,” said Taylor.
Taylor, who sometimes uses her own money to buy food and supplies, also relies on donations from various community organizations, like the Woodlawn Food Pantry.
She said in the past year, she’s noticed the need for food in the community has greatly increased, but the amount of food donations coming in has dropped.
“The need is increasing, it is exacerbated. COVID has done that,” Taylor said.
She believes inflation, the rising cost of groceries and pandemic related economic hardships are all factors in the drop in food donations.
“It really hurts when you have food for one, and there are three people sitting there and one of them has an 8-year-old child,” she said.
Still, Taylor is committed to doing whatever she can to make a difference in her community.
“When you realize what motivates you and why you're motivated, and you continue making that positive change in people’s lives, nothing stops you,” said Taylor.
Learn more about the KGW Great Food Drive and how you can donate here.