PORTLAND, Ore. – University of Oregon’s Portland campus students entered November with uncertainty of where their next meal would come from. The university’s food drop partner, Love Our City, was quick to action, accommodating students and community members alike.
Love Our City, a nonprofit run by Love City Church Pastors Seth and Kaz Brooks, distributes over 150 boxes of food a week. Their system relies on gleaning, a method where volunteers go to grocery stores and collect food headed to waste. However, according to Kaz Brooks, Love Our City passed out double the amount of boxes, reaching 300 drive-up and walk-up customers.
“It’s not business as usual, but we’re still doing everything we can to show up for our community,” Kaz Brooks said. “Our faith drives us to want to serve.”
Beyond serving the Portland community at large, Love Our City also hosts a food drop for students on the University of Oregon Portland campus every other Wednesday at 12 p.m. in the Student Campus Center Lobby. Additionally, Love Our City restocks the student pantry, which is located in room 235 on the second floor of the Student Campus Center.
Fatuma Ali, the campus care and basic needs coordinator, worked alongside Love Our City to bring the pantry services to the school.
“The first survey we ever did, we found out 38% of our student population are food insecure, and that is a huge number of students,” Ali said.
Marie Shambry, a volunteer with the organization emphasized the importance of bringing resources like the food pantry to campus for students to utilize.
“These guys are trying to get degrees, they’re trying to take care of families. They’re trying to maintain a certain level of normalcy, Shambry said. “But if we bring them the food, that’s one less thing they don’t have to worry about,”
Nick Rimando, a second-year student, is one of many students who expressed their gratitude for the event.
“This is just super beneficial for all the students,” Rimando said. “In our country, food waste is massive. And so if there’s avenues for us to get food in the hands of people that are going to use it, I think that’s super important.”
First-year student Allie Young expressed a similar sentiment, adding that student debt is another issue proving to be a stressor among her peers.
“I think the student debt crisis is an ongoing issue, and one of the things that stems from that is always food insecurity…,” Young said. “I think that things like this … publicly advertised very casual feel-good events, definitely help.”
Young also expressed how respectful the other students are of one another while participating in this drop.
“Everyone is pretty, like, respectful of how many people are in line and doesn’t grab everything, like no one’s grabbing a ridiculous amount of things at the beginning of the line because they can see how long it is.”
On Tuesdays, Brooks and her team host the drive up style food pick up, where hundreds of cars and people line up weekly. At the end of last week’s food pantry, Love Our City received $237 in cash donations, as well as a $5,000 check. Their most recent orientation session for new volunteers saw 26 newcomers.
”It’s hard work physically, and it’s hard on the heart…” Brooks said, regarding serving the long line of cars waiting for food assistance on Tuesday afternoon.
Kyann Kalin is a volunteer who has been working with Love Our City for four years. She explained that the line spilled onto a main intersection, resulting in a traffic jam. Despite being able to feed everyone else in the line, with limited supplies toward the end, the volunteers had to resort to giving out boxes primarily consisting of shelf-stable goods and some meat rather than the variety found in their typical boxes.
“We were turning people away from the line just because it was getting dangerous out there,” Kalin said. “I mean, it’s just sad. People looked like they were very desperate.”
Elica Day was one of the many in line who recently lost her SNAP benefits. Her case is unique, with her disability getting worse causing a change in circumstances regarding the custody of her daughter being the catalyst for her benefits being cut.
“I mean, with arthritis in both hands, I can’t work. I can’t even really buckle my own seatbelt. I feel…defeated, and scared,” Day said.
Day expressed frustration with both her personal situation with SNAP, as well as the problems the shutdown was causing for Oregonians in general.
“I don’t understand it. I don’t really get why food benefits would just disappear like that in general, cause they’re there for a reason, for people who need it…,” Day said.
Despite the difficult circumstances, many in line expressed their gratitude for Love Our City and the work they do, including Marianne Smith. Smith is no longer a SNAP recipient but still utilizes the pantry every week.
“I think the people who do the work here…they’re consistent and kind and generous…,” Smith said. “Even with SNAP benefits, they’re essential. When I had SNAP, it was never enough, never covered the whole month.”
Even those who work for the pantry expressed their gratitude for having such a resource available, such as Sonja Vaughan.
“I lost my job a few months ago, and I’ve been on and off SNAP benefits… But luckily I have this place, so that’s been a huge help for me financially,” Vaughan said.
