Carpenters Food Bank logs 25 years helping others

A lot has changed — and a lot has remained the same — since 1983, when Carpenters and Steelworkers union locals established a food bank to help out-of-work and striking union members.

At that time, work at the shipyards was slow, and some 400 Steelworkers were on strike at Oregon Steel Mills in Portland’s Rivergate District.

To help weather the storm, the Carpenters and Steelworkers made arrangements to combine the food assistance programs that each was operating out of the same building on North Lombard.

“It got us through some tough times,” said Ted Totten, a member of Steelworkers Local 3010 who was on strike at the time. “The Faheys (Mike and Sandy) took it over and it’s been going strong since.”

Totten has volunteered at the food bank for the past 25 years, alongside Mike and Sandy Fahey. The core group of 10 volunteers are retirees. They are Don Powers, George Socha, Jenny Schmuck, Jerry Schmuck, Jim Berdadin, Ann Totten, Ted Totten, Lee Herman, Don Peters, and Claude McMahon.

Mike Fahey is a former executive secretary-treasurer of the Portland Metal Trades Council and member of Pile Drivers, Divers and Shipwrights Local 2416. He left the trades to start his own mortgage company, but he and Sandy have never given up the food bank.

“I can relate to these people real easy,” Mike Fahey said as residents lined up outside for food boxes. “I can remember working as a Carpenter and when work was slow it was tough. And there weren’t a lot of food banks around. You’ve got to give back.”

The food bank isn’t restricted to union members. Anyone in need can utilize it.

“We serve people on strike, out of work, retirees on fixed incomes, young people, families, everybody,” Fahey said. “Nobody leaves without a food box.”

And the consensus is that the Carpenters Food Bank puts together one of the best food boxes in the city. “We have chickens, roasts, ham ... and turkeys at Thanksgiving,” Fahey said.

Food boxes are distributed the third Friday each month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (people start lining up as early as 5 a.m.) at the union building on the corner of North Lombard Street and Brandon Avenue. Carpenters Local 247 owns the building and donates the space for storage.

The Food Bank distributes between 450 to 650 boxes a month. Since its inception in 1983 — when they were turning out 850 boxes of food a week — the food bank has provided millions of meals to needy residents.

And though it is an all-volunteer operation and the space is donated, it costs money to buy the food from the Oregon Food Bank. It takes gas to get it, too. [Some food boxes are delivered to those who can’t get out, and to schools.]

With the holiday season rapidly approaching, the economy in the tank, workers being laid off, and more than 1,000 Machinists coming off a 57-day strike at Boeing, and another 200 Teamsters still on strike at Oak Harbor Trucking, Fahey is bracing for a very busy November and December. “Even at bulk rate prices, food items are becoming more and more expensive,” he said.

Cash donations to help buy food are in desperate need. Contributions can be sent to:

Food Bank
P.O. Box 17358
Portland, OR 97217

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