Founded in 2010, The Giving Plate is a grassroots food pantry with a simple mission of – “Feeding the hungry today with compassion and hospitality.” Over the past 12 years, The Giving Plate has grown from an initial dream to serve 500 families experiencing food insecurity to the largest food pantry in Central Oregon with three hunger-relief programs (Grocery Program, Kid’s Korner, and Backpacks for Bend). Currently, we are serving an average of well over 800 families each month in our grocery program alone and about 40,000 individuals a year throughout all of our hunger-relief programs.
By living our mission, we are intentional in our efforts to remove the stigma and shame commonly associated with visiting food pantries. In late 2023, we will be able to offer something truly special for our neighbors in need – a Community Store to do “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. Your support helps us not only fight hunger but feed hope.