Preparing three meals a day takes time. For families relying on SNAP and other food assistance programs, it can take even longer—especially since SNAP benefits can’t be used for hot, prepared foods. Families often have to start meals from scratch, which can be difficult for people juggling work, childcare, and limited kitchen space.
In November 2025, Roundhouse Foundation piloted a slow-cooker program to give 100 slow cookers away through four Oregon nonprofits. Food insecure community members don’t just need access to healthy food but also the ability to cook it. Slow cookers—which families can use to make one-pot meals—can be an important time-saver.
Research shows that time is one of the biggest barriers to healthy meals for low-income families. A 2021 study found that families receiving food assistance ate more fresh food when they had extra money, but time remained the resource most in short supply. Households with more time to cook prepared more nutritious meals at home than those with tight schedules.
The 100 Crock-Pots were distributed through four Oregon nonprofits: NeighborImpact, SE Oregon Food Bank, United Way of Jackson County, and Building Healthy Families. Each organization chose the best way to distribute them, most often through a raffle system designed to ensure equitable access. Larger families with multiple children, who could especially benefit from slow-cooker meals, received slow cookers along with recipe cards and food safety items from OSU Extension and some also received food items and coupons. A special thank you to Bi-Mart Stores for helping RHF source the slow cookers.
Some of the donated slow cookers were given to community meal programs. For years, a group known as the “Crockpot Brigade” has been serving hot meals to hungry and unhoused people three days a week in downtown Ashland. Hawthorne Park Potluck, located in Medford, serves daily home-cooked meals to community members in need. Both organizations received several slow cookers to help them continue and grow their work.
Food insecurity is a growing issue in Oregon, particularly in rural areas where residents experience food insecurity at a rate of 21%, compared to 12% in urban areas. The Slow-Cooker program is one part of the Roundhouse Foundation’s commitment to helping food insecure Oregonians. In 2025, The Foundation committed $6 million dollars to help rural and remote Oregon food banks over the next three years.
After this pilot program, Roundhouse Foundation plans to continue considering other outside-the-box ways to support food insecure families. While access to fresh, nutritious food is vital, people also need to be able to turn ingredients into meals.
Thank you to Inside Philanthropy for mentioning this program in Ade Adeniji’s “101 Ways to Do Family Philanthropy: Lessons From Nearly Two Dozen Foundations.”
