Dear friend,

Abundance. 
It's a word that can feel awkward to say out loud right now. 

As we approach Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I keep returning to his reminder that“Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”At Lift UP, abundance has become part of how we answer that question, not alone, but together, through community. 

Abundance isn't about pretending times are easy. 
It's about choosing to operate above scarcity. Striving to give our neighbors what they need and deserve so they can have peace of mind, even when the world around them feels uncertain. 

This past year has brought real instability: shifting federal food policy, looming USDA freezes, changes to SNAP eligibility, and a broader sense of unease that extends well beyond food. We know many in our community are carrying fear — about resources, about safety, about what comes next. And yet, in the middle of it all, abundance kept showing up. Not because systems worked as they should, but because people did. 

When we first learned about the USDA freeze last summer, neighbors responded through our Grow to Donate campaign, sharing food grown in backyards and community gardens to help fill gaps. Others stepped forward as Root Partners, offering steady monthly support so Lift UP could remain consistent for neighbors no matter what uncertainty lay ahead. 

Volunteers carried abundance into every part of our work. Unloading and sorting food, gleaning from partners, packing boxes, staffing Preston's Pantry, and delivering groceries directly to neighbors' doors. One volunteer shared after a busy pantry day, "People walk out feeling supported. That feeling matters as much as the food.” 

Congregations opened their doors and their hearts, hosting food drives, sharing financial resources, and reminding neighbors that they are not alone. 

And when moments of heightened uncertainty rippled through our community, when fear threatened to take hold, you showed up. During what could have been deeply anxious times, neighbors left our programs with food in abundance. Reflecting on the holiday season, Program Manager Teresa Steichen shared,“Every neighbor went home happy. It was truly a week's worth of groceries.” 

That abundance wasn't just visible in the food. It was felt in the care of our community. A Preston's Pantry volunteer, recently shared a moment that captures the heart of this work: On the Friday after New Year's, a regular pantry shopper pulled her aside simply to say thank you—not just for the food, but for the people behind it. He shared that the past year had been especially difficult and stressful, and that the kindness of the volunteers made a real difference. Being met with care, friendliness, and steady support, he said, helped him get through a hard season and feel less alone. 

Through Lift UP's backbone role in the Coalition to Advance Food Equity (CAFE), partners collaborated to provide bulk food support to eight organizations across Portland, stocking shelves with essential staples so no single community had to carry the weight alone. We're deeply grateful to Zidell, Harbourton, Marie Lamfrom, CareOregon, and Renaissance foundations for standing alongside us in this shared work. 

Abundance, as we experience it, is the grace of community. Time, effort, generosity, and care woven together. It stands in quiet contrast to the narrative that there isn't enough, that communities must compete, or that fear should guide our actions. 

2026 is here and none of us know exactly what it will bring. What we do know is this: when neighbors care for neighbors, when individual actions ripple outward into collective strength, and when we choose abundance over scarcity, our community becomes more resilient, no matter what lies ahead. 

As we continue to face times that stir fear — both within and beyond the food security space — we hope you can lean into what we witness daily. Hope grows when people choose to act, when compassion outweighs fear, and when community shows up again and again. 

Thank you for standing with Lift UP. Thank you for choosing abundance, dignity, and care. And thank you for helping ensure our neighbors are nourished — not just with food, but with stability and hope. 

With Gratitude,

Stephanie Barr, Executive Director

P.S. If you'd like to help sustain this abundance into 2026, consider becoming a Root Partner. A monthly gift of $35 provides steady, resilient food security support for our neighbors. 

Food brings us together.