Program Receives Safeway Grant
The Food Backpack for Kids program has received a $1,000 grant from the Safeway Foundation’s Nourishing Neighbors Program. The funding, part of Safeway’s “Fight Hunger, Serve Hope” initiative through its O Organics® brand, will help provide ready-to-eat weekend meals, milk, and fruit to local students facing food insecurity. According to CEO Dale Edwards, the partnership with Safeway will help improve nutrition among low-income children and families in need. Since 2012, the program has worked to ensure that “together, no child will go hungry,” delivering food bags to students in the Siuslaw and Mapleton school districts. Each bag includes six meals, snacks, drinks, and utensils to last through the weekend. The Nourishing Neighbors initiative supports hunger relief nationwide and contributed nearly $40 million in 2024 to support food access for children, adults, and seniors.
Salmon Derby Replaced by Crab Bounty Hunt
A new event is replacing the canceled Labor Day Weekend S.T.E.P. Salmon Derby in Winchester Bay. Due to low fall Chinook salmon forecasts, organizers have launched the 2025 Crab Bounty Hunt. One hundred tagged legal male crabs have been released, and participants must register tags at Salmon Harbor Tackle by 2 p.m. on August 31. A drawing that afternoon at Blue Box Café will award a $1,000 cash grand prize, plus additional prizes for second through eighth place. All proceeds benefit the local Salmon Trout Enhancement Program.
OPB Top 10 in Fastest Growing Oregon Companies
Oregon Pacific Bank, locally owned and founded in Florence, has been named one of the fastest growing public companies in Oregon and Southwest Washington by the Portland Business Journal. OPB ranked seventh on the Top 20 list, with 40.3% revenue growth from 2022 to 2024. It’s one of six member banks recognized, alongside institutions in Eugene, Portland, Corvallis, Medford, and Vancouver. The rankings span all industries, making the achievement especially notable for the local banking sector.