Weekly Update from OFB: Interim Report, Updated Posters, Link2FeedUpdates

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By Courtney Wright – May 1, 2020

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Resources for agencies and clients

Partner Agency COVID Updates

Read about important updates & opportunities for OFB partners. Sign up others to receive the newsletter.

Greetings! We did it - May is here! (Does it feel like April flew by to anyone else, especially after the slog that was March?)

Today is May Day or International Workers’ Day! We welcome the Spring and honor all workers and thank the labor movement activists who sacrificed so much and today continue to advocate for all workers…because fair jobs and fair wages prevent hunger.

We've been able to analyze the service numbers from March, and even though we technically were only in pandemic mode for two weeks last month, overall we saw a 16% increase in individuals served (+22,800 individuals) over the average of the previous two months. And obviously we expect April's numbers to be even higher (turn your monthly stats in so we can get to crunching those numbers too!).

Numbers only tell part of the story. We know that you all saw clients who had never accessed food assistance before, those that were newly unemployed, families facing crisis, and so many more. You also witnessed the community step up and support each other in amazing ways - and those are the moments that will lead us through this experience and help us emerge stronger.

Your Regional Network Team,

Multnomah & Clackamas Counties - Courtney Wright, cwright@oregonfoodbank.org

Washington County - Jack Koran, jkoran@oregonfoodbank.org

Free Food Markets - Rob Rutledge-Shryock, rrshryock@oregonfoodbank.org

School Pantries - Ally Meyer, ameyer@oregonfoodbank.org

Updated Posters and Volunteer Slideshow

Please click here for the most up to date COVID-19 posters with 10 language options.

We've created a mini volunteer training slideshow that your volunteers can watch before their shift.

Link2Feed Updates

Please share these updates at your site if you use Link2Feed.

The Dashboard Report now includes Anonymous visits: Any anonymous visits recorded at your site will now be added to the live count of total households and individuals served for that day on the Dashboard Report. Click here and scroll down to the "Live Counts" section for further information and instructions on how to turn this report on or off for your users.

New vs. Existing Client Report: The “New vs. Existing” sections in the Statistics Report will now consider the client to be “new” based only on the visits to the agency being reported on. Previously, this report was based on any visits within the network. Now, if the client had previously visited the agency they will be counted as “Existing” and if the client hadn’t visited that agency before, they will be counted as “New”. Test it out by running a Statistics Report now! Click the following links for instructions on How to set-up a Statistics Report and How to use the data.

TEFAP ONLY: New Verbal Consent option for Electronic Signatures: A new "Verbal Consent" signature option is now available in the drop-down list of electronic signature types. Any agencies using electronic signatures can select the "Verbal Consent" option if using this new approved method for gathering TEFAP signatures.

Remote Support for Scheduling Appointments and Deliveries is Available: Remote Support is still available for Scheduling Appointments and Deliveries at your pantry from Oregon Food Bank. Scheduling appointments and deliveries through Link2Feed can help encourage social distancing and reduce overcrowding at the pantry. Please reach out directly to Jamie Truitt (jtruitt@oregonfoodbank.org) to learn how to take advantage of this opportunity.

If you have any questions about these updates please email Link2Feed@oregonfoodbank.org

Interim Report on Our Efforts to #EmergeStronger

OFB has just put out an Interim Report on our efforts to #EmergeStronger from COVID-19.

Click the link to see Susannah's video message from yesterday, and hear about the work happening throughout the network to help address this increasing need for food assistance.

Orientation!

Big thank you to the 17 people who attended our remote Orientation for new coordinators on Wednesday! If you haven't attended an orientation yet, please email Lisa to receive information about the next one.

If you'd like to watch the recording of our first ever Virtual Orientation, click here!

Updates at a Glance:

Are you in need of additional volunteer support? Oregon Food Bank is offering to pair our available volunteers with partners in the Metro area.These requests can be ongoing or one time opportunities. Please fill out this form to make a request and an OFB staff member will follow up with you!

Updates to hours/operations: What service are you offering and when next week? Please fill out our form again to let us know of what your hours are/will be and any changes to the type of service you're able to offer. Click here to fill out the form.

Agency Contact Info Center - This is where you can check to see that we have all the correct contact information for your program, and update it as staffing changes and volunteers rotate in/out. If we can't contact you, we can't help you!

All other announcements, updates, dock changes, etc are located on our main Coronavirus page, here.

Most importantly, thank you for your continued work and dedication in this uncertain moment. Whether your site is remaining open or has closed, we know neither is a decision you've taken lightly. We're in this together, and together we know we will all Emerge Stronger!