Oregon Food Bank: Ending Hunger for Good

Ending hunger means changing the systems that cause it. Every year, we work with community leaders, policy makers, and partners across the state to build a future where every person has access to food, no matter their background, zip code, or immigration status. Now more than ever, it is crucial we respond by leveraging our knowledge and resources, with our powerful community taking the lead.

This month, that vision is taking shape at the Oregon State Capitol.

On February 5th, we will gather with partners, organizers, and directly impacted community members for Food for All Oregonians Advocacy Day. A cornerstone of our 2026 short legislative session strategy. Our coalition is championing the Anti-Hunger Legislative Package, a set of policies designed to protect and expand food access while centering immigrant justice. In a time when federal policies like HR1 are threatening critical safety nets, these state-level protections are more urgent than ever.

This session, our priorities include protecting health care access through the Healthier Oregon Program, keeping ICE out of schools, ensuring families facing deportation aren’t left without support, and safeguarding privacy at home. We’re pushing for policies that reflect what communities need. And we’re doing it with the voices of those most affected leading the way.

That kind of leadership is powerful. In January, over 1,000 people gathered at the Capitol for the statewide Day Without an Immigrant — one of several community actions we supported across the state. From The Dalles to Ontario, from Eugene to Portland, immigrant families, students, and organizers showed what it means to stand together against hunger, racism, and exclusion.

We’re also seeing this momentum grow in our coalition itself. Just last month, 11 new organizations and businesses joined the Food for All Oregonians Coalition, expanding our reach from Cottage Grove to Coos Bay. And the Ethiopian and Eritrean Resource Center joined our Steering Committee, bringing deep cultural knowledge and organizing experience to the table.

Through it all, the Policy Leadership Council continues to ground our work in lived experience. Their current focus: to do a deep dive into SNAP and find out what works, what doesn’t, and what must change. Their wisdom is shaping our long-term Systems Change Platform, and their stories are guiding us through this legislative session.

We know the path to ending hunger runs through policy. It runs through immigrant communities, through rural towns and urban centers, through families who are ready to lead. With your support, we’ll keep showing up. In Salem. In community meetings. In organizing spaces. Together, we will build a future rooted in justice and full of food.

At Oregon Food Bank, we believe hunger is not inevitable. Hunger is the result of policy choices. The mission of Oregon Food Bank is to eliminate hunger and its root causes, because no one should be hungry. We work every day to connect people with food now while building community  power to end hunger.

This past quarter, we saw that power in action. Members of our Policy Leadership Council (PLC), made up of community leaders from across Oregon, met with our Board of Directors to share their experiences. These leaders know hunger firsthand and spoke about what it takes to meet daily needs in the face of rising costs and shrinking safety nets.

PLC member Jayden Ruff met with the Board to discuss tough policy conversations and the impact of community leadership across Oregon. This exchange gave Board members the chance to hear directly from people with lived experiences of hunger. When community voices are part of the decision-making process, we move closer to solutions that work for everyone.

The Policy Leadership Council is an important part of how Oregon Food Bank is shaping the future. It is a place where lived experience informs strategy, advocacy, and action. Leaders from the PLC bring knowledge that cannot be found in data alone. Their guidance helps us protect food access today and push for policies that will end hunger for good.

We know the road ahead will not be easy. Families still face threats from harmful federal budget cuts. Immigrant and refugee communities continue to face fear and uncertainty. Yet we also know that our strength is in people. When leaders like Jayden sit at the table, we see what is possible.

Your support makes this possible. Because of you, Oregon Food Bank can lift up voices that are too often left out. Together, we can show that hunger is a policy choice. And together, we can choose a future where every person in Oregon has enough to eat.