FOOD MATTERS! WINTER 2018 Oregon Food Bank pitches in after another season of disasters When food banking partners are overwhelmed, our network responds. Dee Morasco (top photo, left). Sometimes your neighbors aren t just the people next door. Sometimes your neighbors are people on the other side of the country who need help after a disaster. Just days after Hurricane Florence tore through the Carolinas, Oregon Food Bank employees headed east to help recovery efforts. As food flowed through Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina, their biggest need was in the warehouse. While Oregon Food Bank s Distribution Manager Dee Morasco coordinated orders for partner agencies, driver James Haman collected food from retailers. The staff at Second Harvest was phenomenal, says Dee. They were focused and dedicated to serving their community. And they really appreciated the help from Oregon Food Bank and other sister food banks. Food banks from across the national network of hunger relief organizations have responded to the crisis, and Feeding America»
Flooded residents need food as they put their lives back together. [disasters - cont.] has shipped 7.5 million pounds of product to impacted areas, in addition to raising over $2 million for disaster relief. Earlier this summer, Oregon Food Bank volunteers packed up more than 5,000 emergency food boxes for people affected by wildfires in Northern California, and we re supporting communities in the Southeast as they struggle from the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, the most powerful storm to hit the Florida panhandle. Your support has been instrumental in helping those affected by disasters and strengthening Oregon Food Bank s involvement in statewide emergency response efforts. If a disaster happens in the Northwest, Oregon Food Bank is ready to respond, and we know that food banks across the country will come to assist. Building experts show what they CAN do to end hunger What could you do with 23,000 cans of food to raise hunger awareness? In downtown Portland, local architects, engineers and contractors create giant, wildly inventive sculptures, from Here Lies Hunger to Puff the Generous Dragon. Canstruction Portland helped close out Hunger Action Month by hosting its 22nd annual exhibition and competition with seven teams from 16 local companies. Each team designed and built pop art masterpieces entirely out of full cans of food. They even managed to incorporate some of our most wanted foods like tuna, beans and cooking oil. All those building blocks were then donated to Oregon Food Bank. Since its inception, Canstruction Portland has donated more than 600,000 pounds of food to help fight hunger!
Celebrate the season by making a difference Looking for a way to honor a friend, family member or business during the holiday season? Send an Oregon Food Bank holiday card. A suggested donation of $10 per card will provide enough food for 30 meals. Your contribution will bring hope and help to people in Oregon and Clark County, Washington. Order your cards today by visiting oregonfoodbank.org/holidaycards. PANTRY PROFILE SnowCap Community Charities In 1967, several churches in East Multnomah County formed SnowCap Community Charities to fill neighbors unmet needs. Located in the heart of Rockwood, a vibrant community and a melting pot of cultures, SnowCap is our largest partner. We connected with SnowCap s Executive Director Kirsten Wagemen to learn more about her organization. People served: 8,000 every month Languages spoken: 77 in the last year Most popular foods: Basic foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, rice, eggs, milk and butter fly off pantry shelves. What changes have you seen: SnowCap works to adapt and respond to the needs of our community. Back when I had my first summer job here in 1997, the amount of fresh and frozen food was almost nothing. Now we have plenty of beautiful fresh and perishable items to share. Going from prepacked boxes to shopping-style has been a great change too! Memorable moment: On a Friday afternoon in the summer of 2001, a semi-truck carrying a pallet of fresh clams broke down at a nearby truck stop. Not wanting the seafood to go to waste, staff and volunteers packed their cars with ice and loaded in boxes of clams. We then drove to a nearby lowincome housing complex and distributed clams directly to residents. I don t think my hatchback ever smelled the same! I have the best job in the whole world.
VOICES PROJECT Stretching Social Security Sometimes at the end of the month I have four dollars left. Four dollars, says Neil, a 25-year resident of Eugene. Stories like Neil s are all too common at food pantries. The money you get from social security, I don t know how anybody makes it, says Neil. I have a 16-year-old son. I could just shop for him, and maybe we could have enough. So that s what Neil does. He shops for his son and then eats what is leftover. They also rely on the local food pantry and a small amount of SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps). Local food banks are able to provide fresh produce, dairy and staples because of your support. For most, food pantries are a way to get through a temporary setback. But others, like Neil, visit frequently since there isn t enough money at the end of the month. Read more stories of people who experience hunger at oregonfoodbank.org/voices. Thank you for joining us at the table! Hundreds of supporters, including special guest Senator Ron Wyden, filled our warehouse on Saturday, October 20 for our annual Oregon Harvest Dinner. Together, attendees and sponsors contributed more than $700,000 to support hunger relief. I am humbled by your overwhelming generosity, said Oregon Food Bank CEO Susannah Morgan. Thank you for sharing your abundance and for believing with us that no one should be hungry. Support for this year s event came from: Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, First Tech Federal Credit Union, Hampton Affiliates, Safeway Albertsons, Southern Glazer s Wine and Spirits, Sysco Portland and hundreds of generous supporters.
From isolation to community Gardening programs help vulnerable populations connect This past spring, Oregon Food Bank launched a new project, specifically tailored to immigrant and refugee populations in the Portland Metro Area. Gardening connects me to my community, says Matthieu Kambumb, a Seed to Supper Ambassador. Participants repeatedly tell their community ambassadors that their stress falls away when they work the soil. There is loneliness, stress, frustration so this is, for them, social therapy, says Yonas Kassie, another ambassador. Especially elderly women, single moms. Many participants already possess the farming and gardening knowledge from Yonas encourages a program participant in the garden. their home country. For them, this program introduces the nuances of Northwest growing conditions and different produce for this climate all in their own language. Thanks to you, three additional ambassadors will be trained to teach gardening classes and recruit participants. Watch the stories from this year s program at youtube.com/oregonfoodbank. Rural neighbors band together for food New food assistance programs are seeded in the Columbia River Gorge About 300 people officially call Rufus, Oregon home. Located at the base of the John Day Dam in the Columbia River Gorge, jobs are scarce in Rufus, and the closest full service grocery store is 27 miles away. For years there was only one food pantry in all of Sherman County, and it was only open one day a month, says Sharon Thornberry, rural communities liaison for Oregon Food Bank. When I approached the Rufus city council with a plan for a pantry, they immediately embraced the idea and ran with it. Like us, the community believes that hunger doesn t belong in rural Oregon either. But the pantry almost didn t open on time. Destructive wildfires that spread through Wasco and Sherman counties forced many to temporarily evacuate, and parts of the town lost power. The new pantry is now open two days a month and offers fresh produce and pantry staples such as rice, cooking oil and canned tomatoes. The community just loves it. They get here early to visit, says Carol, who is also one of the pantry s coordinators. My goal is to make sure people have a little extra. I know what it s like to live on a limited income. Rufus Baptist Church hosts the new pantry. Your support helps more people access fresh, nutritious food in their community. Learn more at oregonfoodbank.org/programs.
Did you know? You can support Oregon Food Bank through your will or trust. If you would like more information, call Jill Beidler at 503-439-1950 or email her at jbeidler@oregonfoodbank.org. Oregon Food Bank Network of Regional Food Banks Thank you to our corporate partners for your generous support! Thank you to Genentech for the $50,000 grant to provide food for thousands of students and their families across our service area. Pick-n-Pull stores and their customers raised $16,208 through their annual drive. This amounts to over 48,000 meals to help neighbors in Oregon and Clark County, Washington. Thank you Key Bank for your continued support with a $15,000 grant to help feed our neighbors struggling with hunger in Oregon. Clackamas County Health, Housing & Human Services raised $10,025 through their employee drive this summer. Their efforts continue to address hunger and feed the human spirit. And thank you to the following: Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust The Jackson Foundation Feeding America, thanks to the Kraft Heinz Company Juan Young Trust Feeding America, thanks to Darden B.P. Lester and Regina John Foundation Operated by Oregon Food Bank Metro Services, PORTLAND Southeast Oregon Services, ONTARIO Tillamook County Services, TILLAMOOK Washington County Services, BEAVERTON Columbia Gorge Food Bank serving Wasco, Hood River & Sherman counties, THE DALLES Regional Food Banks ACCESS Food Share, MEDFORD CAPECO Food Share, PENDLETON CCA Regional Food Bank, ASTORIA Clark County Food Bank, VANCOUVER, WA Columbia Pacific Food Bank, ST. HELENS Community Connection, LA GRANDE FOOD for Lane County, EUGENE Food Share of Lincoln County, NEWPORT Josephine County Food Bank, GRANTS PASS Klamath/Lake Counties Food Bank, KLAMATH FALLS Linn-Benton Food Share, CORVALLIS Marion-Polk Food Share, SALEM NeighborImpact, REDMOND South Coast Food Share, COOS BAY oregonfoodbank.org (503) 282-0555 UCAN Food Bank, ROSEBURG YCAP Regional Food Bank, MCMINNVILLE