Baker City Seventh Day Adventist Church seeking donations for its Thanksgiving Food Box Program
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY – For anyone that may be struggling around the holidays, a good meal provided by a kind soul can make all the difference. For anyone looking to help make a difference this November across Northeast Oregon, the Baker City Seventh Day Adventist Church has put out a critical call for donations.
For over 70 years, members of the church have been organizing a series of thanksgiving meal boxes to individuals and families in need across Baker County, with Union County recently being included as well. Supplied every year exclusively by local donations, the program provides large meal boxes (enough to provide multiple meals for some households) annually on the day before Thanksgiving. These boxes contain everything from holiday staples (including turkeys in some of the larger ones) to general canned food.
Currently, the church is in need of any and all donations to help fill this year’s boxes. Dry goods, canned goods, or monetary donations all help. As remarked by organizer and church member Valerie Tachenko, who has been involved with the program since its inception when she was six years old:
“We need lots of food. At this point, I don’t have a can, but I have 113 names. God always makes it work. We’ve always had enough, and we always had enough names.”
Recipients of the food boxes are primarily submitted by the Department of Human Services and recommendations from local school districts. Though the church doesn’t have the capacity to accept direct public requests or referrals, its status as a purely independent effort means members do not discriminate on who’s been referred to them or why.
Further, no leftovers are saved between years, with all donations being used in some capacity. “We’re not a food bank. We start with zero, we end with zero,” as Tachenko remarked.
When asked what she specifically enjoys about the project, Tachenko explained a story of how, once, a delivery driver for the church refused to drop off a box at a home that seemed too well off to need charity. When Tachenko and other members went back to deliver the box anyway, they were greeted by a woman in tears, who explained that her husband had broken his back, they had lost insurance, and the pair were on the verge of losing everything. As Tachenko put it:
“Food did not change their circumstances, but it gave them hope that somebody cared.”
The couple would return around 7 years later and donate six cases of vegetables to the program, never having forgotten that initial kindness.
For anyone looking to support the program this year, monetary or food donations of all kinds are needed, including dry goods and canned goods. Food drives across both counties are also a major boon to the program, with the church looking for someone to help organize a drive in La Grande this year. Members of the church also organize their own food drive from November 9 through the 14 each year.
Direct food or monetary donations can be dropped off at the DHS offices in Baker City or La Grande, or at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 42171 Chico Rd, Baker City. For questions, donation arrangements, or to discuss other ways to support the program, contact Valerie Tachenko at 541-377-2260.
The cutoff date for program referrals is November 17. For anyone that may know someone in need, referral information can be obtained at either the La Grande or Baker City DHS offices.
