PORTLAND - After nearly 30 years of battling hunger in Oregon and SW Washington, Rachel Bristol is retiring from her post of CEO for the Oregon Food Bank.
She began her efforts in 1983 as a Vista volunteer at Oregon Food Share. Eventually she became acting Executive Director. In 1988 she helped form the Oregon Food Bank, where she became Executive Director in 1990 and CEO in 1995.
“I feel very good, this organization is strong it’s financially health, it has a great leadership team, great board," said Bristol.
In the beginning, she thought ending hunger would be a good way to begin changing the world.
“I hoped that we would end hunger in five years and I would move on to literacy or something else but turns out the job was a little bigger," she said with a smile.
Through the years, Bristol worked to help to unify the smaller food pantries and food organizations in Oregon and SW Washington.
Workers like Lucinda Tate, who now serves as a volunteer organizer at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in North Portland appreciate Bristol’s efforts.
“She's had a huge impact," she said. Tate, who is also a Food Bank board member, admires Bristol for bringing more fresh and nutritious food into the food bank system. “That's one of the things I really like about Rachel. She's a working CEO. She makes things happen,” said Tate.
You can see the results of one effort at Fred Meyer stores. Meat and milk that has reached its “use by” date but is still safe to eat and drink -- is now given to the food bank. A company spokeswoman said employees love the program.
“We were literally throwing away meat,” said Melinda Merrill. “We were literally pouring milk down the drain every day, all week, all year. And it was a ridiculous waste. So we worked with them and figured a way to get it into the emergency food boxes,” said Merrill.
The program is now spreading nationwide through other Kroger stores. In the Portland area, hundreds of other stores now donate fresh food, totaling nearly 7-million pounds of food per year.
Spokeswoman Merrill says it was thanks to Bristol’s leadership at the food bank that the program got off the ground.
“You know the way this program came together so well, I don't know if anyone else could have led the food bank through that,” said Merrill. “It just required training. It requires food safety knowledge. It requires keeping that food safe. It takes a tremendous amount of organization and investment and motivation and priority,” she said.
Looking back on her years, Bristol remembers many victories. But she also feels mixed emotions.
Far from disappearing, the hunger problem in Oregon has grown. Bristol estimates as many as 1 million people a year now rely on at least some food from the state’s food pantries.
Despite the growing numbers, Bristol never lost her passion. She tears up in anger at the thought of the hungry.
"It makes me terribly sad that we've let hunger get this bad in our state and in our country. To me, it’s just foolishness," she said.
But she still has hope that hunger can be conquered, one day. In the meantime she believes the Oregon Food Bank will continue to meet the challenge.
“I'm confident that it will go on and continue to do great things that I never even thought of," Bristol said.
The board will begin a nationwide search for Bristol's replacement. Her last day is June 30, 2012.
