3,000 Pounds Of Food Delivered To Beaverton Nonprofit By Hillsboro Cleaning Authority

HILLSBORO, OR — John Arenz didn't seek or expect any honors for his recent contribution to a Beaverton food pantry, but that's because Arenz is a humble man who believes giving shouldn't be about any kind of individual notoriety; it should be about giving — plain and simple. But when Arenz is at least partly responsible for the collection and donation of nearly 10,000 pounds of food, a little credit — whether he likes it or not — is due.

As owner of Cleaning Authority franchises in Hillsboro and Vancouver, Arenz over the past couple years has helped organize local food drives through the nationally recognized Cleaning Authority CARES program. Through CARES, Cleaning Authority offices across the nation annually collect and donate several hundred thousand pounds of food in an effort to curb food insecurity for some 52 million people in the U.S. and Canada.

The Hillsboro franchise office, located at 2020 N.W. Aloclek Dr., was recently recognized for collecting and donating nearly 3,000 pounds of food to the Sunshine Pantry — making it one of the top collectors across 135 Cleaning Authority offices in the nation that participated. (Under Arenz's leadership, the Vancouver office collected nearly 4,300 pounds of food, which it donated to the FISH (Friends in Service to Humanity) Westside Food Pantry of Vancouver.)

"It was such a huge success, I couldn't believe it," Arenz told Patch. "I was very surprised at how many bags we collected."

But rather than accept sole (or any) credit for the effort, which has likely fed myriad people in the Portland metro region, Arenz placed all the thanks at the feet of his Cleaning Authority staff and clients — without whom, he said, the whole endeavor would not have been possible.

"It's the generosity of my customers and my employees that made the (CARES) program successful," Arenz said. "I didn't want to just be a profiting business. It's rewarding to help others … (and) it was a great way of giving back."

Here's how it worked: After Cleaning Authority staff cleaned a client's home, a brown paper bag was left with information about the CARES program along with a request for food donations between cleaning visits. The cleaners then collected the donations and returned them to their respective Cleaning Authority office. After weeks of collecting brown bags, the whole mass of food was donated to the partnering organizations.

Sharon Straus, founder of the Sunshine Pantry at 10895 S.W. Fifth St., said Arenz is one of her biggest donors.

"He's the sweetest, most generous person, and he does it for the right reasons," Straus said. "As parents and as a food pantry, we want our children to eat well; nothing is as important as our children, and it's important that we all work together. These are the things we have to do to make things better."

The Sunshine Pantry is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.sunshinepantry.org.

Photo Courtesy: John Arenz, Cleaning Authority franchisee