Dear neighbor,

What a week! So much has taken place in the last seven days; it’s hard to take it all in. On the one hand, the challenges we face persist - significant gaps in our food sourcing, violence and a fight for racial justice in our streets, and a pandemic that touches us more every day. And yet, as I reflect on Lift UP, I am moved by the support of our community and our collective resilience.

The need for fresh, nutritious food has never been greater for our neighbors in Downtown and Northwest Portland. Last Wednesday, we relaunched our Free Food Market in partnership with Oregon Food Bank and Legacy Good Samaritan. I spent the morning giving out fresh strawberries, oranges, and apples, grateful to repeat time and again “take as much as you need.” There is an inherent joy in sharing food, and masks didn’t hide the delight of our volunteers and clients as they moved through the market. We fed over 60 families with more than 2,000 pounds of food at our launch and expect to reach many more in the months to come.

On Thursday, many of you joined us for our first virtual gala, Making Connections 2020, celebrating Lift UP’s 40th anniversary that included a video of Lennie, one of our Delivered Food Box recipients and a Lift UP volunteer. Lennie is charming and compassionate, and undoubtedly resilient. He reminded us not only of the need for access to nutritious food, but also the meaningful and far-reaching impact of being able to use food to foster health and build community. Lennie reminds me that we don’t have to face our challenges alone. We have a choice about how to meet this moment, and we can choose to show up for one another.
 

Speaking of Making Connections 2020, we were able to collectively raise more than $38,000 for our Adopt a Building program and more than $36,000 to support our programs and services! It truly shows what we can accomplish when we come together as a community. Our full donor list will be added to our website shortly.

I want to thank you, genuinely, for being part of the Lift UP community. Your generosity, in every way, inspires me and brings me hope. My heart is filled with gratitude for you all.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Barr
Executive Director
Lift UP