Woodstock Pantry News Brief December 31

This weekend, we were finally able to serve our neighbors the spareribs and large servings of chicken for a holiday meal!We served 263 neighbors!

In this issue, I provide a Year-End Review and a snapshot of what to expect in the new year.But I want to start by saying, no shouting, Thank You All!!!!It took every one of you, every skill that you offered and every minute that you contributed to bring food to our neighbors.You are living proof that together we can make a difference in our little corner of the world!

New Volunteers

We welcomed Casey, Doug, Beth, Celine and Theo this weekend.Welcome to you all!We are excited to get to know you!

News from the Shifts

Receiving – This weekend, our job was to restock the pantry, which was nearly empty. It was a wonderful opportunity to start the new year afresh! Thanks to our team for moving a whopping 7,030 lbs. of food and for organizing the pantry! Receiving is great for those who like to lift and carry food and get a workout! And we always need folks.

Packing – We used the dry goods bags from last week, so only had to pack a few extra dry goods bags for this weekend. Rather, we ordered a lot of produce and built beautiful produce bags for our neighbors!This team is perfect for folks who don’t do heavy lifting and who like a bit slower pace.

Distribution – Our distribution team enjoyed the nice weather this weekend. And we got to witness the delight of our neighbors as they received the special meat offerings and loaded bags! Distribution is fast-paced and requires that team members work tightly in sync with each other. It is also the shift wherein we have the closest contact with our neighbors, so customer service is the name of the game! We always need volunteers for these shifts.

Year-End Review

It’s been an incredible year for the Woodstock Pantry. I can trace it back to February of last year when I started as a volunteer with this incredible community. At that time, our canopy actually worked (!) so we found shelter under it during Distribution. Nich, our fearless leader, knew our neighbors by name and served them with incredible hospitality. In spring, he graduated and accepted his first position as a Physician’s Assistant. So, many of us stepped up to help while we waited for someone to fill the Outreach position.

During this period, our host, All Saints Episcopal Church, made a momentous decision. The congregation decided to transform the Woodstock Pantry from a temporary response to the COVID crisis into a sustainable food source for our community.

This monumental decision initiated a whole slew of changes, the first of which was my hire into the Outreach Coordinator position.

Fundraising

Sustainable programs require funding to cover operating and one-time expenses. So, we started fundraising via viz grant proposals, donations, etc.

Our first fundraising project is to finalize the Pantry. Thus far, we have been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Episcopal Bishop of Oregon Foundation and a $4,900 grant from SE Uplift. And, we have received numerous donations as well as allocations from the Mustard Seed Income. We are awaiting word on a couple other proposals and will write new proposals in the coming months.

Program Development

We need systems to facilitate operations and to ensure we provide top quality services to our neighbors. Here are our program development activities and accomplishments.

Site Reviews We passed the Oregon Food Bank (OFB) and the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TFAP) site reviews with high marks.

Food Sources We expanded our food sources to include the Clackamas Service Center and Brentwood-Darlington Community Gardens. We were selected for continuation in the OFB Food Choice Cohort. And we applied for the Fresh Alliance and Community Food Donation.

Food Choices We expanded food choices for our vegetarian and vegan neighbors and created a re-pack table where our unhoused neighbors can select food that requires minimal cooking. Though we are not a shopping style pantry, we provide options to all our neighbors every week. And we are experimenting with providing culturally appropriate food for our neighbors.

Intake We are implementing Link2Feed and are already benefiting from understanding the demographics of our neighbors better, which will allow us to provide even more customized services. We have Mandarin and Cantonese speakers available during distribution.

Special Services We served up holiday fixings for Thanksgiving, adding an additional bag of holiday foods, e.g., pumpkin sauce, spices, nuts, etc. We hosted our first-ever Community Share Day on Thanksgiving, wherein all ASEC’s outreach programs collaborated to provide integrated services to our unhoused neighbors. And we served spareribs and chicken, in addition to other holiday fixings, on New Year’s Eve.

Advocacy We are supporting the All Saints Social Justic Committee to advocate for social change regarding food insecurity, systemic racism, etc.

Volunteer Network Our volunteer network has grown from 38 to 84 volunteers since August.82% are community members.18% are All Saints parishioners. Our volunteers include people who are housed and unhoused, who receive food, who are college students, elders, children, parents, singles…This truly is a community endeavor!

Volunteer Management We are working with Reed College to get volunteers, interns and work-study students. We are building partnerships with high schools and churches for youth volunteers. Neighbors consistently contact us, seeking to contribute.

We are matching volunteers to work, cross training volunteers within shifts and across programs and developing volunteer leaders. We are training volunteers to act as teams. And we are initiating training to be a Trauma-Informed Food Site. We keep volunteers informed through the distribution of two weekly publications, i.e., This Weekend at the Pantry and the Woodstock Pantry ENews Brief.

Community Partnerships We are expanding and formalizing community partnerships. Our previous partners included Grout Pantry, Montessori School, Woodstock Neighborhood Association, Portland Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden, Lewis Elementary School, Sellwood Community Garden, Open Bible and churches. We have developed new partnerships with Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Brentwood-Darlington Community Garden, Reed College, Clackamas Service Center and neighbor gardeners.

2022 Data

The data shows that more people are coming to the WP for food, and more volunteers are stepping up to serve them.

Neighbors Served (Jan-Dec)

• We served a total of 4,664 households and 12,995 people in 2022.
• We averaged 424 households and 1,181 people each month.
• The number of households we served increased by 123, from 396 in January to 519 in December.
• Volunteers worked a total of 2,643 hours and 664 shifts from August to December.
• On average, volunteers worked 528 hours and 132 shifts each month.
• Volunteer hours per month increased by 96, from 464 in August to 560 in December.
• Volunteer shifts per month increased by 20, from 121 in August to 141 in December.
• A finished pantry structure.
• Establishment of the Community Engagement Planning Committee (CEPC) comprised of All Saints and community members.
• Establishment of Woodstock Pantry as a Trauma-Informed Food Site.
• Development of a volunteer management system that provides multiple, interesting and fulfilling opportunities for volunteers to gift themselves to our community.
• Serve more culturally appropriate foods in culturally appropriate ways, e.g., translation, expanded food sources, increased food choices.
• Data-driven decision-making.
• Advocacy to counter food insecurity.
• Further development of community partnerships.
• A top-notch volunteer workforce that provides high quality services.
• The transformation of the Woodstock Pantry into a sustainable community resource.

The New Year At-A-Glance

Our vision for 2023 includes:

The CEPC’s first project will be to create and implement a Community Outreach & Engagement Plan to organize, engage and support community through the pantry build project.

Provide the basis for establishment of the Woodstock Pantry Advisory Committee.

There will be more, I’m sure!But this is probably enough to get us started on an exciting new year together!

Remember…

It Takes a Community, And We Are It!