The Portland, Oregon, “Path to Plenty” Walk to Feed the Hungry, a wonderful day of building community in the Dharma. Photo courtesy of Matthew Grad.
By Matthew Grad
On November 15, 2025, Portland (Oregon) Friends of the Dhamma hosted the first in-person Walk to Feed the Hungry that has been held in the U.S. since the Covid pandemic compelled Buddhist Global Relief to move our annual fundraiser to an online space. The Walk, which also benefited the Portland hunger relief nonprofit Urban Gleaners, was a great success as well as an inspiring community-building event, and all of us at BGR are profoundly grateful for the efforts of organizer Matthew Grad, his co-coordinators, and everyone who supported and participated in the Walk. For information about organizing a Walk to Feed the Hungry in 2026, please reach out to BGR at info@buddhistglobalrelief.org.
In the middle of November, for the first time in some years, Portland Friends of the Dhamma (PFoD) hosted a fundraising walk we called A Path to Plenty. This year it was very much a joint effort, with folks from Portland Buddhist Temple (PBT), No-Rank Zendo, and Wise Spirit Buddhist Community joining PFoD every step of the way.
In defiance of the weather forecast, the skies turned blue and sunshine warmed the 80 walk participants—quite remarkable for Portland, Oregon, in mid-November! We were warmed, as well, by the shared sense of joyful purpose in supporting BGR’s vital work, and the work of Portland’s own Urban Gleaners.
Prior to the walk, we assembled to hear the event’s organizers reflect on the significance of joining together in this way. We rejoiced in the human capacity for generosity and compassion, and in our own modest expression of that capacity. Our hearts were nourished.
In the midst of that, I recalled an incident from the first walk we held here: As a sizable crowd of us filed down a busy commercial sidewalk carrying signs that read, “Walk to Feed the Hungry,” a voice from the shadows called out, “Hey, we’re hungry. What about us?” The lofty ideals in my head were brought right down to earth—right down to the here and now.
We’ve not made that mistake again. This year, for example, Carolyn Saiget of PBT prepared a good number of meal boxes for anyone we might meet on the street who needed them, and folks from Urban Gleaners did the same. By the end of the walk, nothing remained.
Because of that, somehow, what happens for me now is this: When I scroll through the projects on BGR’s website and look at a picture of, say, the Joan Rose Foundation’s work in Haiti, those kids talk to me.
