[October 6, 2023]
Two Can Tuesday, a food donation collection program run by Positive Charge! PDX, has productive routes in several SW Portland neighborhoods, and now includes one in Hillsdale. Now, Annabelle Dolidon and her family have started one near their home on SW Idaho St.
The Two Can Tuesday concept is a simple one: Leave a food donation of two or more non-perishable cans items your mailbox or at the foot of your driveway on Tuesdays, and volunteers from your neighborhood collect the donations and deliver them to Neighborhood House for distribution in their Food Pantry.
The route currently covers Idaho St and 19th as well as parts of Bertha Blvd (where it runs parallel to Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy). Dolidon says she that in November she will likely expand the route to a few others streets along Vermont across from Rieke Elementary.
Dolidon says, "My wife and I, with our son Simon, moved to Hillsdale 2 1/2 years ago from Beaverton. Little by little, I got to know the community a bit more and learned about Positive Charge! PDX. I started helping with their Compost Commando program last year, then with a Two-Can Tuesday route this year (in Bridlemile). There were no collection routes in HIllsdale so I decided to give it a try. It is a slow start in a small area, but this morning I collected 40 pounds of food and that really makes it worth it. Imagine what it makes in a year!"
A professor of French at PSU, Dolidon is on sabbatical this year. "I thought it was a good opportunity to use some time to start giving back, and also to participate to the sense of community that I feel strongly in Hillsdale, especially now that my son started Kindergarten at Rieke Elementary. He loves to help me collect for Two-Can Tuesday when there is no school."
Several local drop-off locations have collection bins as well. Basics Market in Hillsdale, the Hillsdale Library (one of the most popular drop-off sites), and Driftwood Coffee are all places where you can leave donations any day, not just Tuesdays.
Canned food items are accepted, as well as nuts, dried food, gluten free/vegan non-perishables, non-peanut nut butters, whole grains, toilet paper, dental supplies, travel-size soaps and hygiene products, and school supplies.
In the three years since the project started, over 80,000 pounds of food and hygiene products have been collected and delivered to Neighborhood House.
Email TwoCanTuesday@gmail.com to start your own route or request a weekly email reminder, or to sign up for the pick-up in Annabelle and Simon's neighborhood.
--Valeurie Friedman
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