Store to Door Welcomes New Development Director Tara Koch

Incoming Development Director Tara Koch joins the Store to Door team this month. Ms. Koch brings over 30 years of accounting and financial management, as well as marketing and fundraising experience. Before joining the Store to Door team, Ms. Koch was the Executive Director for a community-based non-profit for 13 years serving underserved populations.

Ms. Koch also brings non-profit management, strategic program building with a focus on trauma informed culturally responsive equitable access to services.

Ms. Koch has a certification in Mental Health Adult First Aid, in addition to completed course work with the Sanctuary Model of Trauma Informed Practices as well as Diversity and Inclusion in Practice from eCornell. She has also provided leadership to state coalitions and alliance affiliations on state policy and legislative issues related to some of the most vulnerable populations in Oregon.

We look forward to leveraging Ms. Koch’s considerable skillset and experience in support of our homebound clients. Please help us welcome her to the Store to Door team!

Store to Door’s 2021 Impact Report

We are pleased to share with you our 2021 Impact Report. Our success is shared between all the wonderful members of our community who have contributed to our work sustaining independence for our homebound clients.

Thanks to your engagement, we are happy to report that we exceeded our projected number of grocery deliveries last year, deepened our social connection with clients through our friendly caller program, and relaunched a free food box delivery program for our lowest-income clients. By the end of 2022, we will be delivering over 100 food boxes each month.

Our program’s success through the entire COVID pandemic would not be possible without you. Thank you!

Remembering Helen Bernstein

Helen A. Bernstein
April 3, 1945 – Feb. 17, 2022

Beloved pillar of the Store to Door community Helen Bernstein passed away on February 17^th 2022. Serving as our program’s Executive Director for 16 years—from 1996 until January 2013—Helen’s warmth and commitment to the personal side of the work that we do played a formative role in making our program into what it is today.

During Helen’s tenure, Store to Door made more than 111,000 deliveries to homebound clients across the Portland area. Continuing to serve as a Board Member and Volunteer following her retirement, Helen’s legacy is one of lasting impact in the lives of so many clients, volunteers, and staff—and a deep focus on supporting independent living for all members of our community. Helen’s dedication and commitment to helping those in need have had a permanent effect on our program and community culture.

Capturing the spirit of Helen’s compassion, back in 2013, she was quoted as saying, “What warms my heart the most is watching people of all ages, races, religions, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds work harmoniously and respectfully together so that a stranger across town has food for the week. It is difficult to think ill of humanity when you do this sort of work.”

Ours is the work of carrying forward her legacy.

You can read a full obituary for Helen online at OregonLive.

Store to Door Extends Best Wishes to Longtime Board Member Marcia Blasen

It is with bittersweet feelings that Store to Door bids farewell to longtime Board Member Marcia Blasen as she completed her board service with us in December 2021.

Since joining the Board in April 2016, Marcia’s dynamic personality, willingness to ask tough questions, and deep commitment to our program work have been instrumental in sustaining and increasing our organization’s ability to serve homebound members of our community. We are deeply grateful for all of Marcia’s indelible contributions to our program over the past 6 years, and wish her luck in this next chapter!

In the past 6 years, Marcia has volunteered more than 335 hours in support of our homebound clients, as a Volunteer Delivery Driver, Friendly Caller, and Shopper, bringing her energy and generosity to bear sustaining homebound seniors and adults living with disabilities. In 2020, Marcia was the recipient of The Peter R. Marsh Foundation’s ‘Silent Servant Award,’ which recognizes private citizens who selflessly and quietly serve others, and who are indeed the most valuable citizens of their communities.

During her service on our Board, Marcia served as both Board Secretary and Treasurer, as well as Finance Committee Chair. Hugely impactful in program fundraising efforts, Marcia has also played a key role in organizing Store to Door’s annual Nourish to Flourish gala event, bringing her dynamic energy and generosity to bear. In addition to her years of service with our organization, Marcia spent 22 years with U.S. Bank, holding multiple roles in New Product Development as well as Global Treasury Management, and continues to work regularly with a number of other local nonprofit organizations.

2020 – Marcia is awarded Peter R. Marsh Foundation Silent Servant Award!

“While serving on the board, Marcia has displayed dedication, grace and seriousness. As a tireless advocate for the mission of Store to Door, Marcia has done a great deal to raise awareness about our organization,” says fellow Store to Door Board Member John Van Dinter. “Although she is leaving the board, she has made it clear that she will continue to volunteer and support our organization. We look forward to her ongoing passion and enthusiasm!”

Our program has been markedly improved by Marcia’s hard work on behalf of our clients, volunteers, and staff, and we are grateful for her years of service. We wish Marcia the best, and we know that she will continue to be a part of the Store to Door community!

3rd Annual Giving Tree Event Brings Holiday Cheer for Homebound Clients!

On Friday, December 10th, more than 25 Store to Door volunteers and staff joined forces to shop for gifts as part of Store to Door’s third annual Giving Tree event!

Sponsored by Umpqua Bank, this year’s Giving Tree will bring holiday cheer to 75 homebound members of our community when gifts are delivered by another wonderful crew of volunteers and staff this week.

Huge thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers who have chipped in to make this happen. This opportunity was made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship of our partners at Umpqua Bank. Thank you everyone who helped bring some holiday joy to the homebound clients Store to Door serves!

Bank of America Supports Independent Living for Homebound Seniors Across Portland

During the week of November 8^th, 2021 Bank of America sponsored delivery costs for more than 300 homebound seniors and adults living with disabilities through Store to Door’s Support-A-Week program. As a longtime partner in Store to Door’s program work, and a Support-A-Week partner since 2018, Bank of America has played a key role in helping to sustain the ability of homebound members of the Portland community to age safely and healthily in the setting of their own choosing.

In addition to combatting food insecurity with personal affordable grocery shopping and delivery services, Store to Door works to prevent social isolation among homebound clients via a number of regular programs, including their recently founded Friday Friendly Caller program.

“We are grateful for the generous partnership of Bank of America for the past 4 years,” said Mark Fulop, Executive Director of Store to Door. “Last year, their support helped us meet unprecedented demands because of COVID, and this year, their funds will sustain our program operations and help ensure that we can remain focused on providing nourishment and social connection to our homebound clients.”

Start Your Carts: We Are Humbled to Announce $5,000 Jean Pierce Legacy Match

_{Store to Door Board Member and Volunteer Jean Pierce: 1925 – 2019}

Today we are honored to announce the Jean Pierce Legacy Match as an incredible opportunity for our Start Your Carts campaign. Thanks to a generous contribution, the next $5,000 raised in our campaign will be matched dollar for dollar in honor of the late Jean Pierce, a longtime pillar of the Store to Door community.

For more than 25 years, Jean Pierce was a beacon of inspiration and selflessness in her service to homebound seniors and adults living with disabilities served by Store to Door, as well as supporting a number of other local causes. With a deep commitment to serving those around her, Jean shopped more than 3,000 grocery orders for Store to Door clients.

The inspiration for Store to Door’s ‘LoVE League’ program, which recognizes long-term volunteer excellence, Jean served with honors on the Store to Door Board of Directors for 5 years and received Board Emeritus honors in January 2019. Additionally, Jean was the recipient of multiple local awards in recognition of her exceptional service. She is remembered fondly by many in our community for her warmth, generosity, and impeccable style.

Jean’s passion for serving homebound members of our community continues to inspire our work and vision of a community where all seniors and people living with disabilities are nourished, included, and can age with dignity in the setting of their own choice. Please join us in honoring Jean’s spirit of service by considering a gift to our Start Your Carts campaign today as part of the Jean Pierce Legacy Match to double your impact.

Donate to our Start Your Carts campaign today

Store to Door Extends Gratitude and Best Wishes to Board Member Eumi Wymbs!

Store to Door extends its deepest appreciation to Eumi Wymbs, who will be stepping down from her long-time board role with our program. While we are sad to bid Eumi bon voyage, we are so grateful for the impact that she has had on our program, on our clients, and as a standout member of the Store to Door community both internally and as a representative of our program work.

Eumi’s warmth, passion, and dynamic commitment to furthering our program have been an indispensable part of our program growth and success over the past 7 years. After connecting with our program as a Delivery Driver via the Standard Volunteer Expo in 2014, Eumi became a member of the Store to Door Board of Directors in 2016.

In addition to her role on the Board of Directors, Eumi served as the multi-year chair of our Events Committee, hosting our annual Nourish to Flourish gala event and guiding our program to raising more than $400,000 in support of our mission and creating opportunities for us as a community to come together to celebrate our clients and volunteers! Eumi also served as a key member of our Equity Team, and played a vital role in the release of our program’s Equity Plan and Equity Statement, as well as participating in all-staff equity trainings.

With a deep personal connection to Store to Door’s program work, Eumi has maintained her regular weekly deliveries in addition to her other contributions to our organizations, and is a member of our LoVE League having given more than 750 hours of volunteer time since 2014.

We wish Eumi the best in her next adventures, and we know that she will remain a part of the Store to Door community!

Bank of America Provides 3 Weeks of Grocery Deliveries to Homebound Seniors

Bank of America has awarded a grant to provide three weeks of grocery delivery and social connection for homebound clients of Store to Door during 2021. Bank of America has been a long-time committed partner of Store to Door’s program, providing financial and volunteer support to sustain independent living for homebound and low-income seniors and adults living with disabilities.

This investment will provide grocery shopping, delivery and social connection for homebound seniors and adults living with disabilities, as a part of Store to Door’s ‘Support-A-Week’ program. Bank of America’s support will cover program costs for a total of more than 925 deliveries to homebound clients across the Portland Metro area.

In addition to this most recent award, Bank of America has served as a Store to Door ‘Support-A-Week’ partner each year since 2018, and has regularly committed teams of employee volunteers to Store to Door shopping operations as well as additional volunteer activities in support of Store to Door’s work. Bank of America has also previously been a key event sponsor of Store to Door’s Nourish to Flourish Gala.

The Reser Family Foundation Supports Independent Living for Homebound Seniors

Store to Door would like to extend a warm thank you to The Reser Family Foundation for their recent significant grant award! We are grateful for their commitment to helping underserved older adults achieve independence and improved quality of life.

Thank you to The Reser Family Foundation for your ongoing partnership and support!