Marion Polk Food Share is the primary food bank for the Salem metro, covering Marion and Polk counties in Oregon's Willamette Valley, home to the state capital and significant agricultural communities. It serves around 600,000 meals a month and hit record demand in 2025, with CEO Rick Gaupo noting a record number of visitors at local pantries. The organization is expanding, having raised funds to buy a much larger warehouse to keep up with need. Rick Gaupo serves as President and CEO.
Marion Polk Food Share sources food at scale and distributes it across the Salem metro through partner pantries and meal sites, serving around 600,000 meals a month. It also runs programs that go beyond emergency food, including youth farms and gardens that grow fresh produce and teach food skills, reflecting a focus on long-term food security in a region that grows much of the nation’s food yet has hungry residents.
Rick Gaupo serves as President and CEO of Marion Polk Food Share. He has been a visible voice on rising hunger in the region, noting record pantry visits in 2025, and he has led the organization’s push to expand capacity, including the purchase of a much larger warehouse to replace the building it has used since 2004.
The service area is Marion and Polk counties, centered on Salem, Oregon’s capital. The Willamette Valley around Salem is rich farm country, which makes its food insecurity especially stark: a region that grows abundant food still has thousands of households, including farmworker families, who cannot afford enough of it. Demand reached record levels in 2025.
Yes. Marion Polk Food Share is a registered 501(c)(3) and a member of the Oregon Food Bank Network. Donors can review its financials through Charity Navigator and GuideStar. Bulk buying and donated food mean a gift produces many meals.
Donations and volunteer shifts run through marionpolkfoodshare.org. Volunteers help at the warehouse, on the youth farms, and at distributions, and cash gifts go furthest because of the food bank’s purchasing power.
Marion Polk Food Share is the regional food bank for the Salem area and part of the statewide Oregon Food Bank Network. For anyone in Marion or Polk county, it is the lead local organization; for statewide giving, Oregon Food Bank is the network hub.
Pantries and meal sites across Marion and Polk counties.
Growing fresh produce and teaching food skills.
School and summer food support for kids at risk of hunger.
Food assistance for older adults on fixed incomes.
Sources: Marion Polk Food Share website (marionpolkfoodshare.org), and Salem Reporter and OPB reporting on record demand and the warehouse expansion. We are not affiliated with Marion Polk Food Share and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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