Throughout Oregon, nearly 600,000 people are facing hunger, including one in six children. The Oregon Food Bank Network is working tirelessly to address this, with a network of UO alumni leading the way.
Every week, Shannon Oliver, MBA ’13, and her team at the Oregon Food Bank (OFB) distribute one million pounds of food across the state. Oliver, who works as the director of operations for OFB, oversees food distribution to 21 regional food banks.
One of those food banks is the Marion-Polk Food Share, where Ian Dixon-McDonald, BA ’06 (humanities, Clark Honors College), serves as vice president of programs, overseeing services like Meals on Wheels, public community gardens, and a six-acre Youth Farm in Salem.
Another such food bank is Food for Lane County, where Rebecca Sprinson, BA ’09 (women’s and gender studies, Clark Honors College), leads development and communications, raising community support and connecting community members, volunteers, and donors with vital information to meet food assistance needs.
“It has been so much more meaningful than I think I ever could have anticipated,” Sprinson said. “I wouldn't be surprised if I stayed in this work in food banking for the rest of my career.”
This work of eliminating hunger statewide is a significant undertaking, and the need is great. In 2024, OFB Network assistance sites saw a record 2.5 million visits. Factors like inflation, rising housing costs, and poverty are creating situations where more people are faced with what Oliver called impossible decisions—like paying rent or buying food. Addressing these challenges takes collaboration, and that’s where the OFB Network comes in.
Shannon Oliver's team at the Oregon Food Bank works to distribute one million pounds of food per week, transporting that food to regional food banks across the state.
Photo credit: Oregon Food Bank
“We believe that we’re stronger together and as a whole network,” Oliver said. “If we need to advocate for policy change or for funding food purchase, when we do it together and lean into our collective strengths, we're a lot stronger.”
Oliver said her team distributes roughly half of the food for the state’s regional food banks, collectively, focusing on culturally universal items. The rest is sourced locally, where each food bank provides culturally specific foods most relevant to the communities they serve.
This aspect of the work is particularly meaningful to Dixon-McDonald. He said the resourcefulness and resilience of the communities he serves inspires him to persevere through challenges. Marion-Polk Food Share nourishes diverse communities, including farmworkers and their families and the Micronesian Islander community, catering to their specific needs and meeting people where they are through mobile pantries.
“What initially drew me to [food banking] was the connection between community and food and different cultures and how food is such a bridging and central point that brings a lot of different kinds of people together,” Dixon-McDonald said.
A tangible good for the Mid-Willamette Valley
As a student at the UO, Dixon-McDonald became interested in environmentalism, social issues, and cultural sovereignty movements. He said those interests all came together in food banking, a space he’s worked in for nearly fifteen years. He first came to the Marion-Polk Food Share as a volunteer before leading the organization’s farm and garden initiatives. Today, he oversees a variety of services working to bring people together and provide food to more than 17,000 families each month.
“There are a lot of different ways that people can be active politically and socially, and I respect and support many of them. For me, I wanted to do something that felt really kind of physical and tangible,” Dixon-McDonald said. “Food is a great vehicle for that, and it can lead to so many different things. There have been advocacy efforts and social movement efforts that connect and sometimes even grow out of food justice work.
”Dixon-McDonald credits his time at the UO and the Clark Honors College for providing the foundational skills to think critically and communicate effectively with diverse groups.
“The way that I approach things is really shaped by my time in the academic world,” he said. “I think developing an interest and care for making the world a better place was honed and supported [at the UO].”
Marion-Polk Food Share's Youth Farm is a six-acre urban farm creating opportunities for teenagers to learn how to grow food, and in turn, share it with their community. The Youth Farm is one of the programs Ian Dixon-McDonald oversees.
Photo credit: Marion-Polk Food Share
The programs Dixon-McDonald leads are addressing Marion and Polk counties’ highest demand ever. Through the challenges and barriers, he said the creativity and ingenuity of the people he serves and his strong working relationships keep him going.
“The thing that keeps me inspired is the way that people can still find laughter, still smile, and work through hard things together.”
From sustainable business to food bank operations
Like Dixon-McDonald, Oliver was drawn to a career in food banking because of the mission. She joined the Oregon Food Bank in 2020 after she and fellow Ducks Karen Bonner, MBA '13, and Jessica Zutz Hilbert, JD '14, MBA '14, sold their condiment company, Red Duck Foods, earlier in the year. As a Certified B Corporation with an emphasis on food waste reduction, Red Duck Foods donated excess products to the Oregon Food Bank, and the team volunteered with the organization. When it came time for a new career adventure, Oliver couldn’t pass the opportunity to join OFB’s staff.
“It's like the job was made for me is what it feels like. It's a very awesome, serendipitous aligning of the stars . . . in terms of feeling like this is the place I'm supposed to be,” Oliver said.
Looking back, Oliver has learned she gravitates toward operations. She was drawn to the UO Lundquist College of Business’s MBA program because of its focus on sustainability and entrepreneurship. At Red Duck Foods, Bonner concentrated on finance, Hilbert on sales and marketing, and Oliver on, well, everything else, she shared with a laugh. This gave her experience leading a variety of functions, from logistics to sourcing and beyond.
“I think that sustainable business practices have a lot of overlap [with operations] . . . to look for ways to be sustainable, whether it’s climate, financial, or not burning out to keep things going. There have to be efficiencies to minimize waste—whether the waste is time, funds, whatever [it may be]. That fits nicely with an operations mindset.
”In hindsight, Oliver can look back and see general operations as the throughline of her experiences, but it wasn’t something she fully realized after selling Red Duck Foods and exploring options for her next opportunity.
“When we sold Red Duck, I didn't know that the term generalist existed. I had a mentor whose brain I was picking in 2020, and I was like, ‘I don't know what type of jobs to apply for.’ And this industry mentor [said], ‘well, you're a generalist. There are tons of jobs out there for generalists.
”With that mindset shift, Oliver homed in on operations roles with mission-driven organizations that focus on sustainability and equity. She joined OFB as the associate director of logistics and planning and was promoted to director of operations in 2024. In this role, she leads a team of more than 70 people procuring, receiving, inventorying, fulfilling, and delivering food across the state. She said it’s this team and the support they provide for one another that inspires her to keep doing the hard work.
"People are what keep me going and just being in it together . . . When you need to have a down moment, there's someone else that can buoy up. And when they're having a down moment, you can be their buoy,” Oliver said. “It's hard work—we're trying to end hunger . . . but when you’ve got the right team of folks to be doing it with, it’s really satisfying.”
Inspiring community generosity
While Oliver’s Portland-based team keeps food moving across the state, regional food banks are essential for connecting food with those who need it and raising support from community members and local businesses.
At Food for Lane County, Sprinson helps to lead this charge, serving as the organization’s director of development and communications. Her team works with volunteers, communicates with both people seeking food assistance and donors, and strengthens partnerships with food business donors.
“That's one of the things that I love the most about this work is that what we do is so diverse,” Sprinson said. “The variety is so wonderful . . . and [Food for Lane County] is an incredibly rich organization with so many stories to share.”
Prior to joining the organization in 2023, Sprinson worked as a fundraising consultant, supporting nonprofits in the Eugene-Springfield area through donor engagement efforts. While she loved consulting, Sprinson said there were a few organizations she’d consider for full-time work—and Food for Lane County was at the top of that short list.
In 2024, Food for Lane County distributed more than eight million pounds of food—with more than half of that coming from local food donations and purchased food. Sprinson said deepening the organization’s partnership with Market of Choice and collaborating with the company’s vice president of marketing and fellow Duck, Dewey Weddington, BS ’92 (journalism), is a top career moment for her.
“The company is so invested in what we do and what other food banks do across the state. They have stepped up their generosity so significantly and have just been the type of generous partners you can only dream of . . . Being a part of helping them feel closer to what we do is, it's truly the thing I'm the most proud of.”
When asked what gives her hope in the face of great need and challenge, Sprinson shared Dixon-McDonald and Oliver’s sentiment that people make the difference—both within the Lane County community and across the state.
“The generosity that we witness on a daily basis can bowl you over. I try to never be jaded by what that looks like and feels like. Every gift is amazing, and we are so lucky to have that support,” she said. “The other thing is that we are part of a network of food banks across the state . . . And I am so inspired by other food bankers around me . . . They have such courage and conviction. They’re so passionate. They’ve navigated such a variety of challenges and changes, with still this guiding star of food access for all and what food does to make people’s lives better.”
As we enter the holiday season, Sprinson said Food for Lane County sees both need and generosity increase, with families being stretched financially. Across cultures, food is often at the forefront of holiday celebrations, and food banks play an important role in supporting these traditions.
“For every culture, holidays are about food. No matter what the holiday is, it’s often the centerpiece. It’s really wonderful that people get that, and they orient their giving toward making the holidays as special and sustainable for families who have less.”
Get involved
UO alumni and friends can join the hunger elimination effort by volunteering or donating to the Oregon Food Bank or a regional food bank nearest them.
Located outside of Oregon? Find your local food bank by entering your zip code on Feeding America’s website.