On the second Saturday of every even-numbered month, volunteers gather in the gymnasium and parking lot of Portland Open Bible Church on SE 92nd Avenue, bringing with them bright green grocery bags full of donated food from around the city. These volunteers are from Portland Food Project (PFP), an organization that supports local food banks by collecting and distributing non-perishable foods. Since PFP’s establishment in 2012, their unique donation process has collected over 1 million pounds of food.
“The idea is that … we donate the types of items [our donors] would use themselves,” explains Karen Beck, who has worked on PFP’s Steering Committee for 10 years. “We encourage our donors when they go grocery shopping [to] grab an extra item to put in the [donation] bag, and then it will be full by the next pick-up.”
On pick–up days, donors place their lime-colored grocery bags outside their residences, where PFP volunteers retrieve them. From there, donations are brought to Portland Open Bible Church, weighed, separated, and distributed to 16 pantries across town. “It’s so simple you’re shocked that it works. … [The simplicity] is one of the marks of their success,” comments Betty Brown, executive director of the Portland Open Bible Community Pantry.
Donations from PFP support local food pantries in addressing food insecurity and additionally provide a wide variety of products. “For volunteers, it’s a very exciting event,” says Nancy Dowell, a board member at the Francis Center, one of PFP’s recipient pantries. “You never know what will be in a bag.”
At the Francis Center, volunteers try to accommodate the needs and preferences of those who visit. The variety of food from PFP helps this mission; “a large array of things [are] available for their particular needs, but they tell us what those needs are,” says Dowell. Additionally, PFP supplies to a range of pantries: “We try to cover as much area as we can and support a variety of needs because some people may not be comfortable going to a church, for instance, but we have other pantries that people can go to,” says Beck.
In recent years, especially since the pandemic, houselessness and food insecurity have increased in Oregon. “Almost 10% of the population in Portland [is] struggling and trying to make hard choices every month. ‘Do I pay my rent, or do I feed my family?’” explains Beck, who says the need for food in Portland “fluctuates” but “has risen considerably.” Pantries like the Francis Center and Portland Open Bible Community Pantry feel the intensification of these problems firsthand. “25 families in a day used to be busy. Now we’re doing 85,” explains Francis Center board member Debby Weiss. This experience is substantiated by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report, which found a 22.5% increase in Oregon’s houseless population between 2020 and 2022.
In this time of increased need, Weiss explains the vitality of the connection with PFP. “If we didn’t have that alliance with [PFP], we would either be giving out much smaller food boxes, or we’d be spending a lot more money buying food,” she says, explaining how supplies that used to last two months are now gone within three weeks. “They’re a godsend to us.”
“Food insecurity is multifaceted,” says Brown, alluding to how various factors of circumstance and identity can impact someone’s relationship with food security. Food insecurity can be transitory and can happen to anyone. “You never know if someone’s struggling,” says Beck. “Having food pantries and food available can make all the difference.”
As Beck and Brown both explain, alleviating food insecurity — even temporarily — can have positive impacts. “It gives people a little breathing room … it can help them get through a rough time or make sure their kids are doing better in school because they’re not hungry,” states Beck.
“We have a lot of dedicated people,” says Beck. “I hear a variety of reasons why people join Portland Food Project.” She recalls meeting a woman who had previously found herself unexpectedly unemployed, and, struggling to make ends meet, visited a food pantry. “She said she never thought she’d find herself in that position … now she’s a big supporter of [food pantries].”
Dowell and Weiss have similar stories — of old clients returning as donors, of meeting people whose families the Francis Center helped years ago. Food pantries in Portland create strong bonds in the community, bonds supported by the contributions of PFP.
PFP has a thriving volunteer body of roughly 1600 members, which they are always looking to grow. Brown encourages all to donate to PFP, volunteer at a food pantry, or otherwise get involved in one’s community. Referring to the generosity of volunteers and connection with PFP, Dowell reflects, “The giving is good.” PFP can be found online at portlandfoodproject.org.
