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You might think you know Food for Lane County, but this four-decade old organization is evolving.
The regional food bank (Oregon’s second largest) recently launched a new website and refreshed their branding to better serve the community.
What strikes a visitor on first viewing the new website, aside from the refreshed logo–a fork gracefully sprouting leaves, with a friendly wordmark-is a prominent button: Food Finder. It leads to a new interactive webpage with an embedded map displaying food pantries throughout the county.
Filters allow users to narrow the search using parameters like location, days and hours of operation, and if pantry staff are bilingual. Additionally, the site includes a new language translator and improved accessibility features to ensure people of all languages and abilities can navigate it easily.
“Our community’s needs are always evolving and so are we,” said Carolyn Stein, Executive Director of Food for Lane County. “Every element of the new website and refreshed look help us serve our neighbors more effectively, better communicating our core values of compassion, inclusion and collaboration.”
Removing barriers was a key goal of the website redesign. “We want the experience for our community-both those who are seeking food and those who are seeking to support our mission-to be as easy as possible,” said Rebecca Sprinson, Development and Communications Director for Food for Lane County. “We live in a digital world, and removing digital barriers makes it easier for people to find food.”
Redesigning the web presence and graphic identity of a longstanding organization is no small feat. It took over a year to plan, gather community feedback, and implement. The organization partnered with Eugene-based marketing firm Turell Group, which gathered input from Food for Lane County’s staff, board, community members and partner agencies — outreach that garnered more than 2,000 meaningful responses. These projects were made possible, in part, by a generous donation of $85,000 in website, branding and photography services by Turell Group.
“We’re honored to partner with Food for Lane County in the incredible work they do for our community,” said Dana Turell, Founder and President of Turell Group. “Rebranding an organization that’s so well loved and respected carries deep significance. We think the new brand feels true to the organization and inclusive of community, and that was important to us.”
In the midst of a federal government shutdown and with reductions and new eligibility restrictions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) being implemented November 1, the help is needed more than ever. “The generosity of Turell Group and others is essential to our mission in a moment where transformational giving is needed at every level,” said Sprinson.
The community engagement process demonstrated how essential Food for Lane County is viewed by the community. Responses so far have been heartening. “It may take a little getting used to, since our old logo was with us for decades and did so much good representing us to our community,” said Sprinson. “But responses to the new look and website have been overwhelmingly positive.”
“This whole effort is about expanding access to food, and welcoming everyone to the table.”
Donations made to Food for Lane County now through the end of the year will be matched up to $100,000, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor. Visit the website to donate funds, find food, or sign up to volunteer: foodforlanecounty.org.
