Oregon Food Bank has been fighting hunger in Oregon and Clark County, Wash., for more than 30 years. Here are just a few of our recent accomplishments.
Emergency food distribution
Last year, Oregon Food Bank collected 36-million pounds of food for statewide distribution, a 17.6 percent increase over the previous year.
To meet increasing need, OFB purchased 7-million pounds of food to supplement donations, a 7 percent increase over the previous year.
Community Support
Volunteer hours increased 28 percent last year, from 72,924 hours in 2007-08, to 93,142 hours in 2008-09. That's the equivalent of 45 full time employees with an estimated value of $1.5 million.
The number of community food and fund drives to support OFB increased by 16 percent, collecting 2,107,067 pounds of food.
Advocacy
Even in a tough legislative year, OFB advocates made progress toward addressing the root causes of hunger. As a result, more low-income children will receive free school breakfasts, more eligible Oregonians received food stamps and more children will have access to health care.
Education
OFB's education programs thrived, teaching more low-income participants tools for self-sufficiency through garden and nutrition education. OFB's Nutrition Education program boasted an 87 percent graduation rate last year and had more than 360 class participants. OFB's Learning Gardens saw an increase in the number of low-income groups served by gardening workshops and in the number of at-risk youth mentored through the Cultivating Community program.
Statewide support
OFB's Network Support Fund provided 95 grants, more than $250,000 total, to help regional food banks and local agencies expand their capacity to serve people who are hungry.
OFB's Board of Directors launched an $8.5 million "Fight Hunger, Feed Hope" capital campaign to create OFB West, an expanded food bank to meet the growing need in Washington County. To date, we are three-quarters of the way toward our goal.
