Our Salmon Run beneficiary is The Giving Plate.

The Giving Plate is a grassroots food pantry that was founded in early 2010. Our mission is – “Feeding the hungry today with compassion and hospitality”. Over the past 11 years, The Giving Plate has grown from an initial dream to serve a total of 500 families experiencing food insecurity to now being the largest food pantry in Central Oregon with three hunger-relief programs (Food Box program, Kid’s Korner, and Backpacks for Bend). Currently, we are serving well over 500 families each month in our food box program alone and about 40,000 individuals a year in all of our hunger-relief programs.

Feeding the hungry is what we do, but it is only one small part of who we are and what we want to accomplish. By living our mission, we are intentional in our efforts to remove the stigma and shame commonly associated with visiting food pantries. We work hard to create an environment for our guests that is warm, welcoming, and rich with hope.

We are excited to share that in 2023, we will be able to create something truly special for our neighbors in need. No longer will we offer our guests “food boxes.” Instead, they will come to our new Community Store to do their “grocery shopping” for the food they want and need for their families. We will also offer a fun and unique Kid’s Korner store for the children to visit and do their own shopping. This shopping style of serving our guests will normalize the food-relief service we are offering.

Our hope and desire are to reduce the shame and stigma attached to accessing our services. It is one thing to give food to someone in need, but when you can figure out how to offer that food with dignity and compassion and truly show that you care, one quickly discovers that you are not just fighting hunger but feeding hope.