Sunshine Division delivers Thanksgiving meals to thousands of Portland families

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Saturday marked the first year the Portland Police Bureau’s Sunshine Division delivered Thanksgiving holiday meals to families in need.

About 350 volunteer drivers and Portland Police Bureau officers gathered at Portland International Raceway, loaded up their vehicles with hearty food boxes and delivered them to around 2,000 households in the Portland Metro area.

The organization, which has been delivering holiday meals at Christmastime for over 100 years, decided Thanksgiving meal deliveries were a way to respond to the community in a "bigger and better way."

"We have a 101-plus year track record of knowing how to do that at Christmas, so why not do it at Thanksgiving?" said Sunshine Division Executive Director Kyle Camberg.

"This is a great way to kick off our holiday season," said Shawnee Hersey, a volunteer driver. "As long as they'll have me, I'll continue to do this."

Also in attendance was Portland Mayor-elect Keith Wilson, which meant a lot to the organizers.

"We're a small local charity that was founded by the city. And here we are, all these years later, to have the mayor out here, it means a lot," Camberg emphasized.

The organization, which operates donation centers throughout the year, relies entirely on those donations – in addition to volunteer efforts – to keep the tradition going.

"Food insecurity in Oregon and across the county has not been as great or as bad as it is right now since the Great Depression," Camberg added. "We need support now more than ever, but also 52 weeks a year. We are open year-round. Hunger is not seasonal. We need that support now so that we can continue this work now into next year.

Volunteers can sign up for holiday food deliveries happening Saturday, Dec. 21.