When Cindy and Ken Silva were offered the chance to share some comfort food with LBCC students, it was an easy yes.
The pair owns the Albany Grocery Outlet Bargain Market and donated 90 loaves of bread and 1,200 slices of cheese for the Linn-Benton Community College Foundation's Grilled Cheese Roadshow. The LBCC Foundation crew visited all of the school's campuses to raise awareness about food insecurity among LBCC students and to promote the LBCC Foundation's fall scholarship cycle. And it worked! The Foundation served about 800 students and had a record number of scholarship applications.
"The LBCC Foundation connected with us about a potential partnership," Cindy said. "We've all had kids who went to college. Food insecurity, especially on bigger campuses, is an issue."
Ken and Cindy watched their own children work full-time while going to school.
"We saw the struggle was real," she said. "It was the same thing you see repeat itself from generation to generation when you’re out living on your own. We've been out there. We remember those things."
Their store manager James, who helped make sandwiches at the Albany campus, said he enjoyed being able to be a good servant leader, working with an unfamiliar team of people and watching all the kids on campus get some good food for the day.
"It's a really meaningful thing that we just felt we needed to be involved with," Cindy said. One of the things they appreciate about owning their own store is that it allows them flexibility to choose how they support the community.
"We are involved with C.H.A.N.C.E. and The Salvation Army food pantry," Cindy said. "We do a lot of different community events. It lets the community know we are here to support them." While they already contribute to the good work other organizations are doing, they were eager to join the Foundation’s efforts and plan to do more.
"We've already told them, when they’re ready to do the spring event we're ready and happy to support them," Cindy said.
In addition to showing community support, sponsoring the Linn-Benton Community College Foundation’s event was a way to let people know about their store and how shopping there can help them save money.
"There is a benefit to putting your name out there as a business," Cindy said. "It’s a way to get yourselves out there in the community. We're not just a store, we care about our community. We have a very big passion for it."