Community supports local homeless through Smoked Salmon Fest

Medford, Ore. — The 4th Annual Southern Oregon Smoked Salmon Festival was in full swing Saturday in Downtown Medford.

Growing every year, 100 percent of the proceeds go toward homeless youth in Jackson and Josephine counties.

“I grew up out in the Cave Junction area around a lot of poverty. A lot of kids who were living in cars, living in converted buses…” Royal Standley said.

Witnessing poverty throughout his life, Royal Standley is now involved with the Maslow Project.

The Southern Oregon nonprofit provides basic needs and support for homeless youth and family in Jackson and Josephine counties.

“To be able to work with an organization that’s meeting kids where they’re at and giving them hope and a pathway to success… no matter what success means for them… is just incredibly powerful,” Standley said.

Bringing together vendors, live music and the best smoked salmon in the area, the 4th Annual Smoked Salmon Festival is one of the largest fundraisers for the nonprofit.

“On top of it being a smoked salmon festival for smoked salmon lovers, it’s a way for us to bring awareness to our organization and to homelessness in general,” Jorge Zamarripa said.

Event coordinator Jorge Zamarripa says the Maslow Project serves more than 2,500 youth and families and they say the homeless population is still growing due to the local housing crisis.

But both Zamarripa and Standley hope the event continues to grow as well.

“Just continuing on this tradition of supporting a great cause and celebrating Southern Oregon,” Standley said.