O&J Volunteers at Oregon Food Bank

Last month, Olson & Jones employees rolled up their sleeves to repackage 10,787 lbs. of fruits and vegetables at Oregon Food Bank (OFB) for Oregon families in need. OFB’s mission is “To eliminate hunger at its root causes… because no one should go hungry”. The food bank heavily relies on their volunteers to accomplish their goals. Approximately 171,000 hours are volunteered each year. That number is equal to 84 full time staff positions. “[We] cannot do our job without volunteers and people donating time”, says Kyle Hummel, Corporate and Community Relations Coordinator at Oregon Food Bank.

Many volunteer hours go towards repackaging food that gets donated in bulk, into family friendly portions. Repackaging food “help[s] to ensure safe and healthy food is getting distributed”, says Hummel. Many of OFB’s clients are marginalized people whose health has already been compromised. Fresh foods are an important component to their daily diets.

OFB gets their food from different sources. Industry donations from food distributors and manufacturers make up a large portion of the donated food. About 20% is donated by The U.S. Department of Agriculture. Food drives make up 20-25% of donations and OFB buys the rest with donated funds. OFB has two locations where food can be donated but there are local business all over Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties with year round donation bins. These locations can be found on the Oregon Food Bank website.

Besides donating food and time, you can donate funds, professional skills, creative ideas, and expertise in the form of business partnerships and networks. Corporate partners, like Olson & Jones, help advocate for OFB. Hummel says the OFB and O&J alliance makes a difference through “the holistic way Olson & Jones chooses to approach the partnership that makes the biggest differences; from volunteerism, as well as helping raise food and funds, to spreading awareness and creating business connections.”

Olson & Jones has built a relationship with Oregon Food Bank over the years that began with the All Classical fall fundraiser in 2017. From 2017-2018, Olson & Jones has donated time and money to the food bank and in 2019 we have worked with our partners to build a program that allows clients to donate food without ever leaving their homes.

If you or your company would like to volunteer, host a food drive, or build a partnership with the OFB, you can reach out to Kyle Hummel, Corporate and Community Relations Coordinator.