Shelly Bailey Shaw, a district staff member, told the Beaverton School Board on Nov. 20 that the superintendent directed a rapid purchase of roughly $200,000 in staple food to create 56 pantries across district sites so families could access food close to school.

"The idea was to purchase roughly $200,000 worth of staples to fill 56 pantries district wide," Shaw said, describing a two‑week effort to source and sort food with community partners. She named Grocery Outlet owners Todd and Jen Walsh as key partners and said one store received four semi‑truck deliveries the week the district filled three of them.

The district said staff volunteers — including central office employees and family members — processed pallets and district couriers delivered items to schools. Shaw listed courier and operations staff by name when describing the distribution effort and said principals adapted distribution to local needs: some schools set up open pantries where families could choose items, while others assembled boxes through parent‑teacher organizations.

The district emphasized that the $200,000 purchase is a one‑time distribution. "As far as district funds, we don't have any plans at this point to put more district funds toward that," Shaw said, and encouraged principals to cultivate local donations to sustain pantries that had previously operated through community contributions.

Shaw also described ongoing partnerships with the Oregon Food Bank and Urban Gleaners, which operate pop‑up markets at district sites. She said last year the Oregon Food Bank distributed about $168,000 in food through BSD and Urban Gleaners distributed more than $1,000,000 through district channels.

The Beaverton Education Foundation is running a "Feed My Body, Feed My Brain" campaign to purchase grocery gift cards distributed by school counselors to families identified as needing extra help over winter break. "At present, BEF has raised about $65,000 toward our $100,000 goal," Shaw said. The presentation noted the district purchased Safeway grocery cards because of a discount that stretches funds; Shaw said the cards cannot be used to buy alcohol, tobacco or lottery tickets.

Board members thanked district staff, volunteers and Grocery Outlet for the rapid effort and asked principals to provide school‑level estimates of how long supplies will last. The district said it would follow up with principals for more precise timelines and encouraged continued community donations to sustain pantries.

The work session closed with board appreciation for the cross‑sector effort; no formal board action or vote was recorded on the pantry project at the Nov. 20 meeting.