NORTH PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Community College Foundation is welcoming Portland Trail Blazers media personality Lamar Hurd to PCC, to “tipoff” Fred Meyer’s $300,000 gift to combat student hunger as part of their Zero Hunger/Zero Waste Initiative.

WHAT: PCC is receiving its first food truck delivery from Fred Meyer as part of its one-year $300,000 gift. With Hurd and college leadership on hand to help, the truck’s contents will be delivered to the Cascade Campus’ Panther Pantry (food pantry). The money will be put toward improving access to food, expanding pantry infrastructure with refrigerators and freezers, and supporting the hiring of PCC students to expand the pantry’s hours of operation. For Giving Tuesday (Dec. 3), Fred Meyer and the Zero Hunger/Zero Waste Foundation will match all gifts to the PCC Foundation 2-to-1 that day.

WHEN: 11 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 3.

After brief remarks, the truck will be opened and unloaded by guests and students.

WHERE: Outdoor Mall between Albina and Mississippi Avenues in front of the Student Union, Cascade Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth St.

Map: https://www.pcc.edu/about/locations/map/#ca

WHO: Blazer media personality Lamar Hurd will join Director of Corporate Affairs for Fred Meyer Stores Jeffery Temple, PCC President Mark Mitsui, the college’s Board of Directors, and the Panthers basketball teams and students.

WHY: A national study released this summer from the Hope Project found 48 percent of community college students experienced food insecurity. Similarly, a 2017 PCC study found that 63 percent of student respondents had experienced some level of food insecurity in the past six months. 

Through a direct partnership with Oregon Food Bank, PCC’s 67,000 students have access to free food at each of the four campus pantries (Rock Creek, Sylvania, Southeast and Cascade) called Panther Pantries. In 2018-19, students visited the pantries more than 16,000 times, with the number served increasing each term. More than 120,000 pounds of food from the Oregon Food Bank was distributed from the pantries.

MEDIA: To attend and receive a parking pass, please RSVP to James Hill at (971) 722-4376 or jghill@pcc.edu.

About Portland Community College: Portland Community College is the largest post-secondary institution in Oregon and provides training, degree and certificate completion, and lifelong learning to nearly 70,000 full- and part-time students in Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Columbia counties. PCC has four comprehensive campuses, eight education centers or areas served, and approximately 200 community locations in the Portland metropolitan area. The PCC district encompasses a 1,500-square-mile area in northwest Oregon and offers two-year degrees, one-year certificate programs, short-term training, alternative education, pre-college courses and life-long learning.

Visit PCC news on the web at http://news.pcc.edu/