Afghan Support Network: Ensuring food for displaced Afghans and all Oregonians

In September 2021, when Portland-based community leader and advocate Darwaish Zakhil heard the news of the collapse of the Republic of Afghanistan, he knew he had to take action. More than 6 million Afghans were forcibly displaced from their homes, and nearly 1,200 Afghans were about to resettle in Oregon.

Darwaish’s first move was to organize a protest at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland. More than 150 people gathered and spoke about the horrific events that had occurred in Afghanistan and at Kabul airport.

“The collapse of the Republic shattered the hopes of thousands,” said Darwaish.

After the protest, Darwaish received multiple calls from community members who wanted to offer their support, including Ajmal Wahab and Yahya Haqiqi. Darwaish invited them to his home to talk more about how they could help the Afghan immigrants and refugees who were coming in large numbers to the United States and Oregon.

That first meeting with Darwaish, Yahya Haqiqi, Ajmal Wahab and Zubair Kohistani was the beginning of the Afghan Support Network (ASN). The mission was to empower Afghans through support services and advocacy in Portland. They wasted no time, meeting almost every day and finding ways to help the newly arrived Afghans in the state.

While all four of them had full-time jobs and other responsibilities, Darwaish, a self-employed business owner, had the flexibility to visit the temporary shelter where Afghans were staying. He helped them with whatever he could and also created partnerships and relationships with other organizations across Oregon, including Oregon Food Bank.

With grant support from Oregon Food Bank, the Afghan Support Network built community connections and provided bus passes and vouchers for dietary and culturally appropriate foods. As he was forging deep relationships with Afghan refugees, Darwaish started hearing reports of people being denied access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly known as food stamps.

Darwaish explained, “There are Afghans here in Oregon who do not have access to food stamps and I get many calls about our monthly food box donations with people saying that they need that support. When someone asks you for food, you know that they are struggling. Culturally, it is hard to ask for help, and it can feel embarrassing for some."

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This reality is far too common for our immigrant and refugee neighbors in Oregon. Despite significant investments, state food assistance policies continue to leave more than 62,000 Oregonians behind, excluding our communities based on immigration status and other arbitrary factors. Among the people and families who are barred from accessing SNAP and other vital programs are those who are Lawful Permanent Residents, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), asylum seekers and Oregonians without legal status.

That’s why the Afghan Support Network joined the steering committee leading Food for All Oregonians, a statewide coalition to ensure everyone in Oregon — including immigrants and refugees — has access to the food they need to thrive.

“We will need people power — hundreds of organizations like the Afghan Support Network and thousands of individuals like Darwaish — to influence lawmakers to make Food for All Oregonians a reality,” said Cristina Marquez Guerrero, associate director of organizing and advocacy at Oregon Food Bank. “We build that people power through organizing with grassroots communities, amplifying community leadership and winning concrete changes that help our communities thrive.”

Rooted + Rising has made Food for All Oregonians’ reach and scale possible with crucial investment in Oregon Food Bank programs that advance public education, messaging research and statewide organizing. We can already see how these combined efforts amplify community power calling for systems change and building upon historic relationships in the food system.

“Hunger is an issue that requires political power to change. And that power comes from people — people organized to take action together,” said Moira Bowman, Oregon Food Bank’s director of organizing & advocacy. “And that’s why organizing at Oregon Food Bank has so much promise — there is immense people power in our statewide infrastructure for food assistance.”

Alongside leaders like Darwaish and organizations like the Afghan Support Network, dozens of individuals and organizations representing communities with lived experience of hunger and its root causes are joining the Food for All Oregonians coalition. Since launching Food for All Oregonians, 155+ organizations have joined the coalition and thousands of Oregonians have attended town halls or contacted their legislators in support of Food for All Oregonians. And when the legislative session begins in January 2025, Oregon’s elected officials will experience an even greater demonstration of our people power.

Thanks in part to support from Oregon Food Bank, the Afghan Support Network is also stronger, expanding its services to include English language and IT classes, culture kits and recertification for doctors. With 14 dedicated Afghan employees, the Afghan Support Network spans Southwest Washington and Oregon and has nationwide aspirations. The Afghan Support Network and Oregon Food Bank share a vision of the future in which Afghan immigrants and refugees thrive and prosper.

Darwaish praises Oregon Food Bank for this collaboration: “I cannot emphasize enough the positive impact of Oregon Food Bank and the successful outcomes that have resulted from their collaboration and partnership with Afghan Support Network.”

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