Every Thursday in Portland, AJ McCreary sets up what looks like a small farmers market, several canopy tents shading tables filled with fresh local produce.

But this setup is more than that. Where the food comes from and where it goes make it special.

This is the Thursday Market by Equitable Giving Circle, or EGC, a Portland nonprofit devoted to solving inequities faced by Portland’s BIPOC community. On Thursdays, McCreary and her team receive fresh produce from Pablo Munoz Farms, a BIPOC-owned farm based in Dayton, Oregon.

Once the food is delivered and the market is set up, local BIPOC people and families facing food insecurity have a four-hour window to come and partake, at no cost to them.

“We try to purchase all of our farm stuff from BIPOC farms, and then we give to the BIPOC community,” said Tamar Green, a Community-Supported Agriculture, or CSA, director for EGC. “So it’s like a double whammy. We try to support the community in both ways.”

McCreary co-founded EGC in 2019, and she now serves as its executive director. And while that’s what it might read on her business card, she prefers the title of “Expert Sharer.”

“At our core, we are just an organization that is excited to share,” said McCreary. “We want to bring sharing back into the mainstream.”

She and all the helping hands at EGC take pride in the fact that their food is not only free, but also healthy.

“A lot of weekly markets and stuff, it’s a lot of processed food,” said Diona Jackson, CSA manager for EGC. “We focus on fresh and nourishing, like actual whole, nourishing, good foods.”

When it comes to inequality, EGC operates under the belief that equity is the solution. In other words, the unique needs faced by different communities must be addressed.

As EGC volunteer John Bennett put it, “Whatever happens in this world, whether it’s a flood, or wildfires, or economic downturn, war, whatever it is the people most affected are people of color. And it’s always seemed extremely unfair to me.”

Part of EGC’s mission is to bridge this gap, and food insecurity is just one source of this inequality. EGC also has a housing program and a community wellness program. McCreary hopes to grow all these programs in the coming years. One of her main goals for EGC is acquiring a building, which she says will help the organization reach more families.

“It’s really all of the things that kind of support a community,” said McCreary. “The wellness of a community, community building and connectivity, and just reclaiming things that we’ve lost.”

McCreary also told KATU that she and all her colleagues were born and raised in the Portland-metro area, which brings a spirit of giving back to their efforts.

“There’s a lot of really magical, wonderful things happening here,” said McCreary. “So it’s good to be a part of that.”

To learn more about Equitable Giving Circle, visit equitablegivingcircle.org.