editor's note

Hi suma friends,

Last Wednesday, suma turned six! 🎂 We’re so grateful for our community, partners, and funders who have grown with us. From our biggest Holiday Special and Farmers Market Match yet, to a growing Ease & Accessibility group and digital security updates — this newsletter is a snapshot of our busy year.

Thanks for being here!

-Jacqueline

what's new
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Grocery Store Gift Cards
​From February through April, we’re piloting grocery store gift cards on suma. The pilot will help us navigate future food offerings. Each month, we’re offering gift cards to one partner organization’s community. For this offering, suma users can buy $50 gift cards for just $25.

We kicked things off in February with APANO community members, offering gift cards to nearby grocers Winco and Fubonn. This month, we’re excited to bring the offering to Latino Network community members from March 17-23.

Holiday Special Recap​
Every year, we partner with local small businesses to offer meals that feed 4-6 people for just $10. This last run of our Holiday Special was our biggest yet — we doubled our meal offerings to 200 and launched our Gift Card Pilot early, giving users the option to buy a $100 grocery store gift card for $50. La Casa de Mamá joined our vendor line up, offering a dessert package that could be added to any order.
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Together, $35,975 went to our local small business vendors for their goods while our community members saved $33,075!​
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Returning for their second year, Black Girl Veggies served up a fully vegan/gluten-free meal and Tienda Doña Maria provided culturally specific ingredients for families to cook their own holiday dishes. Sheridan Fruit Co. joined us for their fourth and final year, offering turkey and ham dinner options. We’re so grateful for their partnership and their support from the very beginning. Sheridan Fruit Co. will be missed by suma, our community, and all of Portland.

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​Farmers Market Match Recap
​2025 was our biggest Farmers Market Match season yet!

Local businesses and farmers earned $39,024 from suma this season, while users paid less than half the price at just $16,376 out of pocket — we covered the rest! That means in total, suma users saved $22,647 on fresh, local food.

Thank you to both St. Johns Farmers Market and Portland Farmers Market for welcoming us again this year.

a just digital future

Oregon Consumer Alliance Withdraws Support of HB 4130

Part of suma’s continuing work with Oregon Consumer Justice is being a part of the OCA (Oregon Consumer Alliance), which works to protect consumers and advance fair, transparent, and pro-consumer policies—especially for communities that have been most harmed by predatory practices.
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HB 4130 is a bill that was set to establish the Senator Aaron Woods Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a commission needed as AI evolves exponentially with the state continuously falling behind. Initially supported by the OCA, our support has been withdrawn due to amendments abandoning consumer participation in the commission makeup. A commission tasked with identifying risks, recommending safeguards, and prioritizing transparency must incorporate consumer perspectives. We still expect this bill to pass this short session. For more information please visit OLIS here or review OCA’s official submitted testimony here.

the suma app: built with you in mind

Ease and Accessibility
​Our Ease and Accessibility group had their first meeting last week! Previously known as our Accommodation Project, this group brings together community partners who are rooted in accessibility work. The group includes: Community Vision, Upstream Access, The UPRISE Collective, Macaysa Consulting LLC, AIM-4-Access, Ride Connection and CymaSpace.

Led by Jen, our Accessibility Program Manager, they’ll drive the development and implementation of app improvements on a monthly basis — shaping how suma tests, refines, and launches the accessibility changes our communities are recommending.

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​Security and Privacy Update

Keeping suma safe and trustworthy is an ongoing commitment. We make consistent investments in our digital security practices and want to be transparent about the work happening behind the scenes.
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This year, we completed a security audit led by consultant Deep Armor, resulting in updated recommendations to strengthen our app and organization’s digital projections. We’re not working with Nonprofit Secure to implement those recommendations — made possible through the support from the WES Miriam Assefa Fund, a funder dedicated to driving inclusion, opportunity, and community integration for immigrants and refugees.

The Ease & Accessibility work has been made possible through funding by the City of Portland, Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund.