Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. High 76F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..
Cloudy. Low near 55F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
Tom Kriss hugs his wife, Angie, before being lifted onto the top of a trailer outside of the Myrtle Creek Grocery Outlet Friday, where he will live until the charitable contributions to St. Vincent de Paul of Myrtle Creek reach $50,000.
Louis Maffei, a lieutenant in the Riddle Fire Department, prepares the boom ladder used to lift Tom Kriss and Eric Lindberg onto the trailer outside the Grocery Outlet in Myrtle Creek Friday.
Eric Lindberg, CEO of Grocery Outlet, takes his steps onto the trailer Friday, where he will live overnight alongside Tom Kriss, who will live there until the charitable contributions to St. Vincent de Paul of Myrtle Creek reach $50,000.
A crowd gathers to watch Tom Kriss and Eric Lindberg onto the trailer outside of the Grocery Outlet in Tri City on Friday.
Now comfortably on top of the trailer, Tom Kriss and Eric Lindberg talk while looking out towards the small crowd gathered in the parking lot of the Grocery Outlet in Myrtle Creek Friday.
Now comfortably on top of the trailer, Tom Kriss and Eric Lindberg talk while looking out towards the small crowd gathered in the parking lot of the Grocery Outlet in Myrtle Creek Friday.
Eric Lindberg, CEO of Grocery Outlet, grabs some equipment needed to stay overnight alongside Tom Kriss, who will live on top of the trailer until the charitable contributions to St. Vincent de Paul of Myrtle Creek reach $50,000.
Tom Kriss (left) and Eric Lindberg (right) share a beer after making it onto the roof of the trailer.
Tom Kriss hugs his wife, Angie, before being lifted onto the top of a trailer outside of the Myrtle Creek Grocery Outlet Friday, where he will live until the charitable contributions to St. Vincent de Paul of Myrtle Creek reach $50,000.
Louis Maffei, a lieutenant in the Riddle Fire Department, prepares the boom ladder used to lift Tom Kriss and Eric Lindberg onto the trailer outside the Grocery Outlet in Myrtle Creek Friday.
Eric Lindberg, CEO of Grocery Outlet, takes his steps onto the trailer Friday, where he will live overnight alongside Tom Kriss, who will live there until the charitable contributions to St. Vincent de Paul of Myrtle Creek reach $50,000.
A crowd gathers to watch Tom Kriss and Eric Lindberg onto the trailer outside of the Grocery Outlet in Tri City on Friday.
Now comfortably on top of the trailer, Tom Kriss and Eric Lindberg talk while looking out towards the small crowd gathered in the parking lot of the Grocery Outlet in Myrtle Creek Friday.
Now comfortably on top of the trailer, Tom Kriss and Eric Lindberg talk while looking out towards the small crowd gathered in the parking lot of the Grocery Outlet in Myrtle Creek Friday.
Eric Lindberg, CEO of Grocery Outlet, grabs some equipment needed to stay overnight alongside Tom Kriss, who will live on top of the trailer until the charitable contributions to St. Vincent de Paul of Myrtle Creek reach $50,000.
Tom Kriss (left) and Eric Lindberg (right) share a beer after making it onto the roof of the trailer.
TRI CITY — On Friday, the Riddle Fire Department lifted Tom Criss onto a 53-foot semi-trailer at exactly 12:05 p.m. where he will live until the trailer is full of food donations.
For the fourth year in a row, Tom Criss will camp out on top of the semi-trailer that is parked outside of the Myrtle Creek Grocery Outlet he owns with his wife, Angie. This is the Criss’ way of fundraising during the annual Independence from Hunger Campaign that all 425 nationwide Grocery Outlet locations participate in during the month of July.
“Everyone’s got some different thing they do,” Grocery Outlet CEO Eric Lindberg said. “This is by far one of the more creative ones.”
This year, for the first 24 hours atop the trailer, Lindberg will join Tom Criss.
Last year, Tom Criss raised over $45,000 during his nine consecutive day stay. This year, their goal is to reach $50,000.
On top of the trailer, Tom Criss has a cooler full of drinks, his laptop for both work and entertainment, some gym equipment, a tent and a camping toilet. His wife and other family and friends will make sure he gets fed.
Last year, after nine days, Tom Criss said the hardest part about being on top of the trailer was fighting boredom.
“The first few days are fine, it’s like a little mini vacation. And by day five, you’re starting to pace a little bit,” he said. “By day nine, I was ready to come down.”
Angie Criss admitted she worries about him when he is up there, but more than that, she misses him.
“He’s up there and it’s dark and it’s lonely,” Angie Criss said. “And I miss him. We’ve been married a long time and I still love him.”
All the proceeds raised from the event go back into the South County community. Helping feed the community is especially important to the Criss family because both Tom and Angie grew up needing support from their local food pantries, according to Angie Criss.
“From the time we were kids, and then when we were adults and had our own kids, people stepped up and helped us,” Angie Criss said. “It’s our responsibility to pay that back and to pay that forward.”
One of the food pantries the Myrtle Creek Grocery Outlet donates to is St. Vincent de Paul’s Food Pantry of Myrtle Creek. Over the summer, they bring lunches to kids every Friday. During the week year-round, they offer food pick-ups Monday and Friday where they average serving around 30-35 families a day, according to Barbara Sutch, the food pantry supervisor.
The Grocery Outlet’s companywide Independence from Hunger Campaign began in 2008, according to Lindberg. It is held in July to help fight childhood hunger that increases during summer months when school is not in session.
The campaign runs through July 31. Tom Criss will stay on top of the trailer until it is full — hopefully less than nine days this year.
Nika Bartoo-Smith is a Snowden Intern for The News-Review. She can be reached at nsmith@nrtoday.com.
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