PENDLETON — Since COVID-19 arrived, hunger is on the rise.

Recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows that more than 527,000 Oregonians don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Food banks are seeing increased demand. In Pendleton, the number of people coming to the Salvation Army’s noontime meal rose from about 40 or 50 per day to 150 before settling near 100.

Karen Rose and Pendleton City Councilor Carole Innes decided to do their part to ease hunger. Several Sundays ago, they started feeding Pendleton’s hungry at Stillman Park. The Salvation Army is closed on Sunday, so the meal fills the gap.

The two women took the baton from George and Dro Winter and a long line of folks who have provided food at Stillman on and off over the years. Before the Winters, Dave Haskett brought picnic meals to the park. Way back in 2010, Veda Spencer and her 10-year-old granddaughter Breanna started feeding people who came to the park Sunday mornings, looking exhausted, rumpled and hungry. Spencer eventually moved the meal into the Pendleton United Methodist Church where it continued for years.

The tradition of feeding the hungry at Stillman Park continues with Rose and Innes.

Both have a heart for homeless and hungry people. Both volunteered at the Pendleton Warming Station Day Center and with Project Community Connect, an annual event that provides supplies and services to people who are homeless.

Innes, who sits on the city council’s subcommittee on homelessness, spearheaded the Marigold Project where 61 homeless people were housed in the Marigold Hotel in April as a way to reduce coronavirus risks. The residents got three meals a day and a bed. The Salvation Army delivered lunches each day to the hotel. The project, funded partially by the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon, ended when funding ran out in late April.

“When the Marigold Project ran out of money, we realized people were going to be out and around,” Innes said. “It’s hard for them to know where to go since with a lot of offices and agencies, you can’t go to the door right now.”

She and Rose restarted the weekly meal, which they call the Stillman Park Meal Project. With volunteer help and food donations, they set up each week in the park’s covered area. The meals begin at 2 p.m.

On Sunday, May 24, Karen and four others stood behind a table laden with tuna casserole, salad, bananas and cookies and assembled meals for anyone who happened by.

At the end of the table, Dennis Davis poured seconds of chocolate milk into a blue Solo cup for a young boy who held it out.

“You’re a growing boy, aren’t you?” Davis said, smiling. The boy nodded.

The demographics of the diners ranged from babies to retirees. Before the meal ended, about 55 people went through the line. The week before, the meal went ahead despite wind and rain. About 30 folks showed up.

Innes and Rose say they could use more help with food, supplies and serving. On Mondays, the women plan the next week’s menu and get the word out to volunteers who make casseroles and salads or purchase fruit, bags of salad, cookies, ranch dressing, beverages, plastic utensils and clamshell containers.

“The goal is to have enough people involved so no one is overwhelmed or overburdened,” Innes said.

People interested in being added to an email list of volunteers should email Innes at cinnes.45@charter.net.