Pamala Joy first became aware of the problem of famine in Africa in the mid 1990's. With two girls at home, she knew she couldn't go off to a foreign country, so she decided to do something to help at home in her Oregon community. She started picking up leftover food from just a few grocery stores and bakeries to take to those in need, but she soon realized just how much perfectly edible food ends up in the landfill. In 1996, Pamala founded the Ashland Food Angels to collect food from grocery stores and bakeries and distribute it to local food pantries and homeless shelters with the help of volunteers. Since they started, the Ashland Food Angels have saved over 6 million pounds of food from the landfill, impacting millions of people in the Ashland area.
