Hello Network Partners-

The agenda for the upcoming OFB Network Virtual Conference is now available!  We have some great content lined up and hope you’ll join us.

Thanks to all who’ve registered- 102 of us and counting! You may register to attend up until the first day of the conference, February 11th. 

About: The conference is taking place online Tuesday, Feb 11- Wednesday, Feb 12 and will feature a range of topics focused on our collective work to end hunger and its root causes, with topics spanning expanding access to culturally relevant foods, healthcare partnerships, collaboration between regional food banks and food hubs, and a session highlighting the power of organizing.  

All sessions (unless otherwise noted) will be recorded and posted to OFB Portals after the conference. 

Keynote Speakers: In addition to conference sessions, we’re delighted to have keynote addresses from our new OFB President, Andrea Williams as well as Mariana Chilton, author of The Painful Truth About Hunger in America.

Community Rights and Finding Food- Train-the-trainer Session: If you’ve missed opportunities to attend Network Equity & Racial Justice(NERJ) team’s recent trainings for regional food bank and partner agency staff,  this will be another opportunity to learn about pantry participant rights and responsibilities when accessing OFB’s food assistance sites. Through a trauma-informed approach, we’ll go over ways to address feelings of scarcity and safety. Lastly, participants will  learn how to use and  share tools on how to locate food sites as well as sharing tools and strategies for navigating law enforcement and ICE presence at food distribution sites.

The full agenda and speaker lineup is available here.

Audience: This conference is open to all Regional Food Bank staff, partner agencies and community partners. 

Access: Please note that this conference requires registration to attend, which you can do by clicking on the “Register” button. Once you’ve registered, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions and link to access the conference online. If you have issues registering for the conference, please reach out to J. Jackson (jjackson@oregonfoodbank.org).