Dear Partner Agency Network Colleagues,

I am writing to share important and delicate information about Oregon Food Bank. This information is CONFIDENTIAL and for use by food assistance employees/volunteers only.

Last week, Oregon Food Bank made changes to some of its personnel structures, reducing several full-time positions to maintain sustainable operations. Why? Our communities donated generously during the pandemic, allowing Oregon Food Bank to increase its operational capacity and respond to rising food insecurity caused by COVID-19. With the end of the pandemic, we are now re-evaluating our operational capacity to stabilize our growth and balance our expenses and revenue. 

Important for you to know:

• We hold people facing hunger and poverty at the center of every decision. To the very best of our ability, we made decisions strategically, in ways that best position OFB to achieve our mission of eliminating hunger and its root causes.
• The reduced personnel capacity will not compromise our ability to deliver food to our partners and regional food banks. Oregon Food Bank remains committed to ensuring that healthy and nourishing food is available across Oregon and SW Washington. 
• We are making structural changes to the teams that directly interface with partner agencies. In the new structure, the Metro and Washington County Services team (Anne, Ally, Courtney & Kelsey) will be your point of contact for both Compliance-related issues and capacity support. (Members of the Compliance team were those who's positions were eliminated.) They are available to help navigate challenging situations, point you in the direction of resources, and brainstorm ways to be creative and innovative while meeting the requirements in our contracts. We'll be in touch with more details around annual visits and other processes in the near future.
• Tim will continue to support agencies with Fresh Alliance. 
• These were difficult decisions. However, Oregon Food Bank remains strong – strong in our mission, strong in our partnership with you, and strong in our commitment to equity and racial justice.

We know that you have relationships with Oregon Food Bank staff and that it is painful to know that the layoffs impacted people you care about. Please know that we care deeply about all our colleagues and have done all we can to make this process as caring as possible. All staff whose positions were eliminated received a generous separation package, including severance, health insurance, EAP benefits and more.

If you have questions, please reach out to me. If you are contacted by any external partner or media regarding these changes, please refer them directly to me. We are eager to support you through these changes.

In partnership,

Starr Yurkewycz
Director of Partnerships & Programs