Three Easy Ways You Can Help End Hunger in Oregon

This story is published in cooperation with Willamette Week and Oregon Food Bank.

One might think that, with the economy steadying, fewer Oregonians would be challenged by food insecurity and hunger.

But that’s not the case.

In fact, the exact opposite is true. The continued rising cost of food and housing has worsened food insecurity in Oregon. Last year alone, Oregon Food Bank saw 1.9 million visits to food assistance sites throughout the Oregon Food Bank Network – a 14 percent increase over the year prior. The nonprofit, whose mission is to eliminate hunger and its root causes, continues to see record numbers of visits.

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Oregon Food Bank works to provide access to nourishing food for everyone, build community and eliminate the root causes of hunger. Its Oregon Food Bank Network comprises 21 regional food banks that partner with more than 1,400 free food markets, pantries, meal sites and delivery programs that last year sourced and distributed more than 87 million meals worth of food. Every year, thousands of volunteers rally to help support the Oregon Food Bank and its cause, giving their time, raising money and advocating for policy change.

Since 2022, the Food for All Oregonians campaign, spearheaded by Oregon Food Bank, has been working to guarantee access to food assistance regardless of place of birth, immigration status or documentation.

Achieving the goals of Oregon Food Bank and Food for All Oregonians requires a community-wide effort. September is Hunger Action Month, and there’s no better time to get involved to help end hunger in Oregon.

Here are three easy ways to do it:

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Pledge to support Food for All Oregonians – Speaking with a unified voice will help ensure that legislators and important decision-makers hear the call to end hunger in Oregon and provide access to food assistance for everyone. Joining the Food for All Oregonians campaign is one way to make your voice heard. Signing up with the coalition is quick, easy, free and a great way to stay informed about how and when you can take action.

Spread the word – Social media is key to communicating important messages these days – and Food for All Oregonians’ message needs to be spread. Use your social media platform to encourage friends, family and neighbors to sign on to Food for All Oregonians. You can also tap into the Oregon Food Bank’s social media toolkit, which includes sharable posts to help generate awareness and provide updates. Sharing through social media increases collective knowledge about upcoming events and initiatives, and reinforces that food is a basic human right.

Host a Food for Action dinner – With support and resources from Oregon Food Bank, community members can host Food for Action dinners and help generate support for ending hunger in Oregon. They are a great way to build community and monitor food-insecure community members who may require assistance. Oregon Food Bank even offers a Food for Action Toolkit to help volunteers with everything they need to host an easy and impactful dinner.

“Food is one of the essentials that everybody needs. It does not matter where you are from or which community you’re part of,” said Eman Abbas, a community leader, advocate, immigrant, a mother and a proud supporter of Food for All Oregonians. “As a mother, if I cannot support my kids with food, they cannot go to school, do their jobs or live their life. It’s something essential…. This is why I support the Food for All campaign, because it will make sure that everybody has access to food that they eat, they want and they know.”

For more information, visit OregonFoodBank.org or FoodForAllOR.org.