Oregon Food Bank has been closely monitoring the progression of the coronavirus (COVID19) and we are carefully following the recommendations to protect public health and help slow the spread of the virus in our communities. The health, well-being and safety of our communities is our highest priority. 

One of the most important actions we need from you - please continue to use this form to keep OFB updated on any changes to service models or closures. We will continue to update Food Finder and avoid referring the public to closed sites. 

In order to facilitate increased social distancing, we have made the decision to postpone or cancel all community events and meetings that are not directly related to food distribution between now and May 1st. This means that all Oregon Food Bank staff will also be cancelling or postponing travel between now and May 1st. Decisions about meetings and events after May 1st will be made by April 20th. If you have other scheduled events or meetings with Oregon Food Bank staff, you will hear from them directly in the next couple of days. All scheduled on-site compliance visits will be postponed until at least May 1; however, the Network Compliance Team recognizes that it is more important than ever to ensure clients have equitable access to safe food. Josh Baruch (jbaruch@oregonfoodbank.org) and Auzeen Rasaie (arasaie@oregonfoodbank.org) are available to support you with any questions or concerns you may have around food safety, civil rights, or other compliance issues.

We’d like to emphasize that social distancing efforts are not intended to negatively impact food access in the Metro area. Attempts to halt this pandemic may exacerbate food insecurity, especially for those most vulnerable. If you haven’t already, we encourage your organization to adopt social distancing practices that will allow you to maintain services, while prioritizing the health and safety of your staff, volunteers, and clients. Those who choose or are asked to close by your larger sponsor organizations will in no way be penalized or questioned. Our recommendation is to immediately begin the following in ways that work within your community: 

• Try to maintain 6 feet between people (get creative with waiting spaces indoors and out, avoid forming physical lines, etc.)

• Stop walk-through style shopping: Minimize the number of people coming in contact with food (take orders and bring them to people where they are waiting, touch food as few times as possible, put together food boxes, etc.) 

• Provide each person with as much food as you are able to reduce their need to return (ideally 2+ weeks of food if possible)

• Implement these CDC Guidelines for cleaning surfaces and hand hygiene: https://www.cdc.gov/ coronavirus/2019-ncov/ community/home/cleaning- disinfection.html

• Do not touch your face, wash your hands often and between each interaction (soap and water are preferable but hand sanitizer is an acceptable alternative when soap and water are not available)

• TEFAP agencies, the signature requirement has been temporarily waived. Clients can now verbally declare their eligibility for the program. Recipient agencies may have volunteers complete the paperwork on behalf of the client and utilize a verbal acknowledgement that the information gathered is correct and that they attest to the uniform eligibility requirements.

We are also modeling options for food flow so we are not caught off-guard by this quickly changing situation. Our capacity to receive, re-pack and deliver food will shift if we experience staff illness at scale. We'll share details when we have them, but increasing commercial pack vs volunteer re-packed products is among our first options. You can also expect little to no Fresh Alliance foods, as our grocery partners are experiencing high sales volumes and are not donating as much, and we are reducing driver interactions. 

We are working on alternative distribution options including pre-packed food boxes for Partner Agencies unable to make their own, enhanced Free Food Markets, and the possibility for establishing distribution hubs in areas most affected by closures. If you are interested in supporting any of these efforts with staff/volunteer capacity or space, please indicate this in the update form in the last question.

We are so appreciative of the work you do every day to care for your communities and your work to end hunger. We are committed to our partnership and will remain in close communication with you as the situation progresses. 

This is an ever-evolving situation, and you should expect to see further communication from us on impacts to our food distribution efforts as changes emerge