Oregon Food Bank is instating a new annual winter closure policy to give our frontline staff the opportunity for rest and time with their families. We will be closed beginning at noon on Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, through Friday, January 2. We will reopen on Monday, January 5.

Why a Winter Break?
The period between Christmas and New Year’s is an ideal window to minimize disruption while giving our frontline teams meaningful rest. Our colleagues whose work focuses on procurement and distribution operate in a “just in time” manner. There is little to no room to pause or shift work. If they stop, our partners and community go without food. When urgent needs come up, they can not roll work forward or take unplanned time off. Doing so will create overtime for teammates or delay food deliveries. Our staff are part of our community too. Supporting our staff strengthens our collective ability to serve in the long term. Many agencies are already closed during this week so your teams can rest as well.

OFB has no ability to reschedule deliveries and pickups that fall within this closure window. We will be working with sites that receive just 1 or 2 deliveries/month to reschedule them. All other sites are asked to prepare to not receive a delivery or pickup. We acknowledge the impact this will have on agencies that will remain open during this time, and always seek to center community in all of our decisions which also means our frontline staff moving food out the door year-round.