Meet Monthly Sustainer: Cathy Olson

Cathy Olson is a long time volunteer and partner of Oregon Food Bank. For 25 years, Cathy has supported hunger relief and food justice work through volunteering, donating, and advocating for public policy. From a young age, Cathy’s family encouraged giving back to their community. When Cathy was in High School, her family participated in the Adopt-A-Family program through their local church. Throughout the years, Cathy and her family made it a tradition to give to their local food banks. She shares, “My mom was really big into Christmas.After she died in 2005, the family decided rather than buying presents for each other, we would just make a large contribution to the food bank in each other's names. And so we've been doing that for the last 15 or 16 years.”

This family tradition of giving back was further nurtured at Cathy’s work. Cathy became involved with Oregon Food Bank through a previous employer who encouraged employees to give back to their local communities. Cathy recalls how she enjoyed volunteering, “I just liked doing the work. I thought it was fun. I remember my dad came to visit one year at Christmas time and I took him to an event with me, which he thought was pretty cool. My family has always volunteered at food banks down in California where they live, so it just felt like a good fit for me.”

In particular, Cathy found lobbying at Oregon Food Bank’s Legislative Day very impactful.

“You think about the big picture of what's going on nationally, but really the meat and bones of what happens in our society happens at the grassroots level. When I lived in Tigard, I did a lot of volunteer work for the city and I really enjoyed that. I like the process and what can be done when people get together.”

Through the pandemic, Cathy has been unable to volunteer. As a retiree, she was concerned about COVID-19 safety for in-person volunteering and events. While the pandemic disrupted her sense of community, it also showed her how interconnected we are.

When Cathy and her husband, Steve, were asked to become monthly sustainers at Oregon Food Bank, they saw an opportunity to continue to make a difference. Cathy shares, “For me, being a Monthly Sustainer is good because it's just a part of my budget. I don't have to think about it. I know how important it is for organizations, no matter what it is, to have some sort of expectation as to what their incoming funds are like so that they can commit to spending it on whatever is needed. That, to me, makes sense.”

Cathy’s dedication to eliminating hunger couldn’t be clearer. We are thankful to our community of supporters, like Cathy and her husband Steve, who support our work to create a hunger-free Oregon.