Arnerich Massena Launches FEED PDX, a Fundraiser for the Hopscotch Foundation to Help Feed Portland Students


Share this article! Portland-based investment firm Arnerich Massena, an independent investment advisory firm specializing in private wealth management, endowment & foundation, corporate consulting services, and impact investing strategies, is pleased to announce the launch of FEED PDX, which is raising funds for The Hopscotch Foundation in an effort to help provide much-needed food support for … Read more

Portland-based investment firm Arnerich Massena, an independent investment advisory firm specializing in private wealth management, endowment & foundation, corporate consulting services, and impact investing strategies, is pleased to announce the launch of FEED PDX, which is raising funds for The Hopscotch Foundation in an effort to help provide much-needed food support for local Portland students. The firm’s goal is to help raise an additional $50,000, which may be able to nourish and sustain another 10,000 children during this crisis. In an effort to incentivize giving, Arnerich Massena plans to match the first $10,000 in donations to FEED PDX.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 200,000 children in Oregon faced food insecurity,” says Christine Arnerich, executive administrator of Arnerich Massena’s I AM Learning Partnership community service program and firm principal. “Free breakfast and lunch programs at schools provided students with much-needed consistent meals but now, many children and families are without resources to access critically needed sustenance. Healthy food is essential to fuel the online learning these children are engaged in, and thus the challenge is doubly profound.”

The I AM Learning Partnership has deep connections to many of these families so desperately in need so they teamed up with The Hopscotch Foundation to assist, which was already providing food assistance to multiple schools in the metro area. The Hopscotch Foundation was founded in 2015 and works with Portland schools to provide fresh, healthy food directly to Portland-area students. An all-volunteer crew including school personnel, led by “Uncle Dave” — as Hopscotch founder Dave Gunderson is known to those he helps — distributes food weekly to 18 schools and locations across Portland, setting up food pantries where families receive vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, seafood, and other staples, most of it locally sourced. Each week, as many as 7,500 families rely on the Hopscotch Foundation for their fundamental food needs.

“These are unchartered waters,” Hopscotch founder Dave Gunderson remarks. “We’ve become a safety net in many of Portland’s low-income areas. Our established infrastructure was the perfect platform to serve in this crisis. We have built a solid network of trusted partners in the community. Many of the school staff participate in the distribution. They know us and it gives the kids comfort to see them there.”

Katherine Fox, CFP®, CAP®, philanthropic and investment advisor at Arnerich Massena, notes, “FEED PDX was launched in conjunction with the Hopscotch Foundation to help raise funds to provide these young minds with the consistent nutritional support necessary to thrive, grow, and continue learning. The need and demand has expanded exponentially with the pandemic and closure of local schools.”

Donations to  FEED PDX and the Hopscotch Foundation are tax-deductible gifts and because the organization is all volunteer-run, all donations go toward purchasing and providing food for children and families in Portland. The food provided is healthy, nourishing, and fresh. Hopscotch uses top-quality sources like Otto’s Kitchen, Dave’s Killer Bread, and freshly sourced produce and eggs, combined with food donors like Fishpeople, Elephants’ Deli, Pacific Coast Fruits, and Skout Organic.

“We are deeply grateful for any support we receive as part of FEED PDX,” says firm co-CEO and principal Tony Arnerich. Co-CEO and principal Bryan Shipley, CFA, CAIA, adds, “We’d like to thank everyone for being part of this important effort and giving back to the most vulnerable among us when it is especially necessary!”

To learn more about FEED PDX, visit the fundraiser website here.