Thanks to a more than 10-ton donation from a locally owned grocer, ACCESS’ new larger pantry in Medford will be fuller than ever.

But the massive donation likely won’t last long.

Sherm’s Markets staff filled ACCESS’ new pantry Friday with pallets of instant soups, canned tomatoes and numerous other nonperishable items as part of a semitrailer-sized donation that’s become a holiday tradition spanning a quarter-century.

The donations go back to 1998, according to ACCESS Chief Advancement Officer Kellie Battaglia and Food Programs Director Marcee Champion.

“It’s always just this joyous occasion seeing the community come together to meet this need,” Champion said.

“It’s amazing — it’s at least 23,000 pounds of food,” Battaglia said of this year’s donation. “They’re amazing supporters in so many ways.”

Bob Ames, the general manager of Sherm’s Markets including Food 4 Less in Medford and Sherm’s Thunderbird markets in Medford, Klamath Falls and Roseburg, described the donation as “a pretty full truckload” filled with pallets of cereal, spaghetti, ravioli, canned vegetables, “even some toilet paper and paper towels.”

The company similarly gives back to food pantries in Douglas and Klamath counties.

“It’s just a blessing our company’s been successful allowing us to do this every year,” Ames said.

It’s far from the only way Sherm’s has helped ACCESS. Company founders Sherm and Wanda Olsrud, for instance, gave ACCESS the commercial kitchen inside the Olsrud Family Nutrition Center in the early 2000s.

Throughout the year, Sherm’s sells groceries to ACCESS “at a good discount,” including close-dated items that are still edible or merchandise sent to the grocer in error.

“We’ve always believed in giving back to the community — it’s helped us so much in our community support,” Ames said.

Sherm’s also partners with ACCESS for the agency’s 40th annual Food for Hope grocery bag holiday food drive. This year’s campaign benefits the agency’s Rogue Powerpack child nutrition program in which volunteers supply children from food-insecure homes with backpacks filled with kid-friendly foods every weekend.

As generous as Friday’s donation is, it won’t last long, Champion said.

“Our pantries have already been clamoring for food right now,” she said. “It should go pretty quickly.”

Battaglia said that, with inflation, the need for food assistance is rising. In the last fiscal year, the organization helped roughly 49,000 people — one in five Jackson County residents — and this year the number could rise above 50,000.

ACCESS distributes roughly 4.5 million pounds of food through its 34 pantries every year. That averages to roughly 86,000 pounds of food per week.

According to Battaglia, ACCESS is helping families who have not traditionally needed food assistance but now “need a little help in the week.”

“There are families that are just struggling now,” Battaglia said, adding that food insecurity “seems to grow” during the holidays.

Champion said the holidays are a time of year when families come together. The donation from Sherm’s Markets helps food-insecure people feed everyone in their growing households during the holiday season, she said.

“That’s extraordinary to get a semi-load of food,” Battaglia said. “This is not a drop in the bucket.”

For information on ACCESS food assistance or to make a donation, see accesshelps.org.