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PORTLAND - In observance of Oregon Hunger Awareness Week, the Oregon Food Bank awarded Oregon State University and OSU Extension Service the 2005 Hunger Buster Award at a ceremony recently in Portland.

Beth Ray, wife of OSU president Ed Ray, and John Winder, assistant director of OSU Extension, accepted the award for outstanding hunger-relief efforts by an organization.

The OSU Extension Service was recognized for its many programs that help people throughout Oregon, from life skills classes in McMinnville to nutrition education in Tillamook to the Hunger Summit and community food assessment workshop in southern Oregon.

OSU has supported Linn-Benton Food Share, part of the Oregon Food Share network, for more than a decade. During the last five years, OSU has donated more than $50,000, more than 80,000 pounds of food, and hours of volunteer and intern work to help fight hunger.

In addition, OSU researchers conduct and analyze hunger surveys, publish scholarly research on hunger and raise awareness of hunger through public education and events.

To more closely coordinate efforts to serve the needs of Oregon's hungry, OSU Extension nutrition educator Anne Hoisington recently moved to an office at the Oregon Food Bank's Portland headquarters. From here, she serves as a liaison between Extension Nutrition Education Programs and Regional Food Banks throughout Oregon.

"Both Extension and Oregon Food Bank share the goal to empower people to improve their health and life by combining nutrition education with access to nutritious foods," Hoisington said.

"The collaboration between the OSU Extension Service and the Oregon Food Bank shows how two organizations with compatible missions can work together," Winder added. "Their combined efforts are definitely greater than what each could do independently."