The Ashland Food Project Celebrates Community at the Fourth of July Parade
What better place to celebrate the Ashland Food Project’s 100 Green Bag pickups than at Ashland’s Fourth of July Parade?
On one of the community’s biggest days of the year, a giant green bag rolled down Main Street alongside volunteers, Neighborhood Coordinators, board members, and supporters—sharing a simple message that has guided the Food Project since 2009:
Building Community. Sharing Food.
The parade came just days after our 100th Green Bag pickup, a milestone that marked nearly sixteen years of neighbors helping neighbors. Together, Ashland donors have quietly built one of our community’s most remarkable traditions, placing a green bag on their doorstep every two months so it can be collected and delivered to the Ashland Community Food Bank.
This year’s 100th pickup collected 30,780 pounds of food, a reminder that even after one hundred pickups, the generosity of this community continues to grow.
Walking the parade route, we were met with smiles, waves, cheers, and conversations from people who recognized the familiar green bag. Some have been donors for years. Others remembered volunteering in the early days. Many stopped to ask how they could get involved.
That spirit of curiosity and generosity is exactly what has sustained the Food Project for nearly sixteen years.
The giant green bag riding proudly through downtown wasn’t just a parade float, it represented thousands of households, hundreds of volunteers, and countless acts of kindness that have nourished our neighbors over the years.
To everyone who walked with us, waved from the sidewalk, or simply smiled as we passed…
Thank you.
This milestone belongs to all of you.
As we celebrate the first 100 Green Bag pickups, we’re already looking ahead to the next 100. The need continues, but so does Ashland’s remarkable willingness to care for one another.
If you’ve ever thought about joining the Ashland Food Project, there’s never been a better time.