Template for written testimony: Funding the statewide free food assistance network

Funding the statewide free food assistance network: written testimony template

My name is ___________ and I live in ______________. Feel free to add any relevant identities you hold (such as “I am a …” parent, child/student, teacher, or caretaker for an elder). I am writing in strong support of funding the statewide free food assistance network.

Add why YOU support Food for All, including personal points, experiences, or stories related to hunger and/or immigration. How would the Anti-Hunger Package impact you, your family or your community? This part is important, and often what lawmakers remember.

Oregon is facing a hunger crisis, and it is getting worse. In 2025, Congress made the largest cuts to SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) in history. With grocery prices on the rise and hundreds of thousands likely to lose their Medicaid benefits, things aren’t likely to improve without bold policy action.

Today, 1 in 5 children in Oregon don’t have enough to eat, and one-third more Oregonians face hunger than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Food pantries across the state are confronting record-breaking levels of demand – Oregon Food Bank has never seen this level of urgent need in its 40+ years of food banking.

Please feel free to use any of the messages below you find most compelling:

• Visits to Oregon’s food assistance network increased by over 50% from 2023-2025, and this is before H.R. 1 caused nearly 100,000 Oregonians to lose SNAP.

• Oregon should increase support for community-level responses to hunger like funding for food purchasing and the Oregon Hunger Response Fund (OHRF) to ensure that 1,200 community-based food assistance sites across the state can support people in our communities.

We know that when we all have access to food, we’re all better off. Kids do better in school, our families’ health and well-being improve, and our economy thrives through the support of local businesses. This is true in every corner of Oregon – in rural, urban, and suburban communities alike. When all of our neighbors are getting the food that they need, all of Oregon thrives.

This is why I am urging you to increase funding the statewide free food assistance network.

Sincerely,

Your name

Click to access templates you can use to help get yourself started.

• Template for written testimony: Expanded Cash Assistance
• Template for written testimony: School Meals for All
• Template for written testimony: Protect health coverage for immigrant Oregonians
• Template for written testimony: Fund these initiatives through revenue reforms

Click for the entire Story and testimony collection toolkit