PRINEVILLE, OR -- The Prineville Soroptimist Senior Center was over-flowing with food, last week, after the end of the Symbiosis eclipse event at Big Summit Prairie: "A lot of fresh vegetables: cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, limes, gingers; fresh eggs – about 9,000 eggs; several cases of milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, several cases of hamburger, fish and chicken, and frozen veggies." Myra Martin is the Kitchen Supervisor and head Cook at the Senior Center. She tells KBND News she got a call from an event catering company, asking if she would accept a donation so they didn’t have to take the leftovers to the dump. But, she says she had no idea how much they were bringing until the truck rolled up.

Martin estimates the total value of the donated food to be around $15,000. "We have a freezer and refrigerator that’s slammed full. The meat will last estimated 3-6 months. And the refrigerated stuff will have to be used in the next 2-3 weeks."

The senior center received so much food, Martin was concerned they wouldn't use it all before it spoiled, so they offered it to their clients. "[We] Let them pick through all of the veggies to get what they want to take home, because a lot of the older seniors actually can stuff. And then, we did Redemption House, they came in and took stuff. And, we also did several families here in town that were in need, and we just let them come in and get all the veggies that they wanted." The rest, she says, will be used over the next several months for the estimated 200 meals a day the senior center provides. "It helps us tremendously," Martin says. "On the food cost; because we’re a non-profit, what we make is what we buy groceries with, to feed the seniors and the home delivery meals."