Dear friend,
Lately, I have been sitting with a difficult question:
How do we operate when we know there may not be enough?
Not enough food to meet every need. Not enough pantry shopping times available on our highest-demand days. Not enough certainty about what food will arrive next week or next month.
At Lift UP, we have always tried to operate from a spirit of abundance.
At Preston’s Pantry, that means creating a shopping experience rooted in dignity, choice, and trust. When food is available, we want our neighbors to choose what works for their households and take what they need, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. With Delivered Groceries, it means filling bags and boxes to the brim.
But operating with abundance also means thoughtfully navigating the moments when what we have may not meet the full need.
“One of the hardest things I had to learn how to do is say no,” shared Teresa Steichen, Preston’s Pantry Manager.
Teresa was reflecting on having to limit how many neighbors can shop in one day. It is a decision no one wants to make, but on our busiest days, we sometimes have to stretch the food so there is something available for as many people as possible.
This is the tension we are carrying.
It is the anxiety a neighbor feels while wondering whether their groceries will last through the end of the month. It is the volunteer who wants every person walking through the door to hear yes, we will take care of you. It is the donor or supporter looking at need stacked upon need and wondering, “Is what I am giving really making a difference?”
And it is our staff standing in the middle of all of it, trying to hold abundance and scarcity, hope and worry, yes and no. We do this work to feed people, not to turn them away.
This is not a tidy, feel-good circle. But it is the loop.
Your support really does change the answer
One neighbor recently visited Preston’s Pantry using a cane. Even though they were number 75 in line, they shared afterward:
“Thanks to all the staff, volunteers and donors. I am eating comfortably this weekend because of everyone’s generosity.”
That is what your support makes possible.
It helps us purchase the staples that are missing from donated food streams. It helps keep our trucks moving, our pantry operating, and groceries reaching neighbors who cannot physically make it to us. It helps us offer fresh produce, protein, dairy, culturally relevant foods, and options for people managing dietary restrictions.
And the other side of that truth is important to name.
Without community support, there is not another unlimited food source waiting in the background. We have to stretch what is available even further. That can mean less variety, smaller quantities, appointments filling sooner, or more neighbors hearing “that’s all we have today.”
A donation does not solve every part of this broken system. But it absolutely changes what we can place on the shelves, how many households we can reach, and how often we can say yes.
The pressure is already here, and more is coming
More than 70,000 Oregonians lost SNAP benefits between April 2025 and April 2026. Oregon’s Department of Human Services expects more than 313,000 of the state’s roughly 740,000 SNAP recipients to be affected by changes resulting from H.R. 1 over time.
This fall will bring additional changes regardless of what happens with the federal budget.
Beginning October 1, the federal share of SNAP administrative costs will drop from 50% to 25%. Federal support for SNAP navigators will also be reduced, and Oregon’s SNAP education program is scheduled to end September 30. For families, that can mean less help navigating enrollment and recertification, along with slower processing and longer waits.
The clearest way to say it is this:
No matter what happens in Washington, D.C. this fall, more of our neighbors will need help.
Demand is already at record levels. The Oregon Food Bank Network experienced a 51% increase in visits over the last two years. . And in Oregon, SNAP provides seven meals for every one meal provided through food banks.
Food pantries cannot simply replace a federal safety net of that size.
When SNAP is reduced or becomes harder to access, the need does not disappear. The weight shifts to households, state and local systems, community organizations, volunteers, and donors.
Add rising grocery prices, housing costs, utilities, transportation, and the prices many of us are seeing at the gas pump, and it is easy to understand why more neighbors are turning to food assistance.
So, what do we do with all of that?
First, we have to be real.
Lift UP cannot stem the entire tide of a broken system. But we can challenge it. We can strengthen local relationships, share resources, build better infrastructure, and create a food system that is more resilient and responsive to the people it is meant to serve.
Systems that crumble will not be rebuilt overnight. They will be rebuilt through partnership, advocacy, shared learning, and communities willing to use what they have together.
That is why Lift UP is proud to provide backbone support to CAFE, the Coalition to Advance Food Equity, working alongside 10 partner organizations committed to strengthening our regional food system.
Together, we successfully piloted a project focused on shared bulk food purchasing and labor that resourced our coalition with over 60,000 lbs of food. We are now building a Farm to Food Assistance initiative that will help coalition partners purchase fresh food from local farmers, including growers who were affected by the loss of federal funding.
We are proud to be top-tier partners of Oregon Food Bank and with other food streams help food move throughout our community, including to smaller mutual aid and culturally specific organizations such as Milk Crate Kitchen, DeRose Community Bridge, and IRCO.
Some prepare and deliver meals. Others support immigrants and refugees or reach neighbors who may not feel safe or comfortable accessing traditional food assistance sites. Each organization holds a different piece of the solution.
Our role is not to duplicate what others are doing. It is to make connections, share resources, strengthen what is already working, and help fill the spaces where gaps remain.
None of these actions alone will end hunger.
But small actions, connected intentionally, become a stronger system.
Sometimes saying no helps preserve the next yes
A no is not always a complete no.
Sometimes it means not today.
When we cannot meet a need in one moment, we hold onto the hope that, because of the strength of this community, another partner or neighbor may be able to meet it with a yes.
That is the community I have come to know through my time as Executive Director at Lift UP.
A community of neighbors sharing what they have. Volunteers showing up week after week. Partners picking up the phone when food needs to move quickly. Donors giving what they can, even when they may never see all the individual moments their generosity makes possible.
Because of you, we have been able to offer far more yeses than nos. There are still many days we operate with abundance.
I share all of this not to create fear, but to face the future with eyes open: there will be hard days ahead. There will be moments when we have to stretch the food, adjust in real time, and begin building the next version of the system while we are still working within the one we have today.
But we will not be doing it alone.
I am deeply grateful for the care, trust, and steady support you continue to extend to Lift UP and to our neighbors. You are an essential part of every yes we are able to offer.
With Appreciation,
Stephanie Barr, Executive Director
Food brings us together.
