EVENTS HAPPENING IN YOUR AREA.
TRI-CITIES, FOOD BANKS, MOBILE MARKET, FOOD SUPPLY, VOLUNTEERS – MARCH 27
SECOND HARVEST TRI-CITIES IN THE NEWS
Second Harvest’s Pasco hunger solution center hosted two drive-thru food distributions this week to meet the increased need for food assistance in the area. At each distribution, families received emergency food boxes filled with more than 20 pounds of fresh, frozen and non-perishable food items.
While we prepared 250 boxes for each distribution, more than 600 cars lined up for Tuesday’s event—showcasing the growing need for food in the Tri-Cities community. The distributions were covered by local news outlets. Read more here and here.
FOOD BANKS
We’ve leased an additional truck and trailer and hired two temporary drivers to help meet the increased need for food during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our emergency agency network team is keeping in close contact with our partner food banks and meals sites about barriers they’re facing in delivering services. Additional freight capacity and driver support will help keep partners food banks and meal sites stocked as we cope with a significant influx of people seeking food assistance. Thank you to all our donors who made this possible!
MOBILE MARKET
Our Mobile Market hit the road this week, providing food to more than 1,200 families total at distributions in Colfax, Loon Lake and Spokane. In addition to our Mobile Market bus, which serves the Spokane area, our larger-scale Mobile Market truck will be on the road four to five times a week and will target many high-need rural areas.
FOOD SUPPLY
While navigating this crisis in the last two weeks, we’ve had more food flow out our doors than is coming in. Disruptions in our supply chain have made it difficult to keep up with the unprecedented need for food we’re seeing in our region. Second Harvest will continue to monitor our incoming food supply as the COVID-19 crisis continues.
VOLUNTEERS
Food bank volunteers are exempt under the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order enacted in Washington earlier this week. We are still in need of volunteers to help sort and repack food for distribution to our partner agencies and through Mobile Market distributions. Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers this week! If you’d like to volunteer, you can sign up here.
A special thank you to Steve, a volunteer who has shown up every day – all day – to help get food to people who need it. While his employer is temporarily closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Steve has spent his time off helping feed his community. Read more about Steve here.
To sign up to receive our updates to COVID-19 via email, please click here.
Food Safety First: – April 19
In January and March, AIB International conducted audits of our facilities – the Pasco Distribution Center, the Spokane Distribution Center and the Wolff Family Child Hunger Solution Center. As has been the case for more than a decade, we received scores of 930 or higher, out of a possible 1000. Anything above 900 is considered exemplary.
While receiving high scores from AIB is important, we are equally proud of the fact that any day of the year, our team is always working to keep our buildings clean and our food supply safe. This speaks to the strong food safety culture we have here at Second Harvest.
A celebration of our volunteers – April 12
Volunteering doesn’t have to be a one-time thing and the individuals who volunteer at Second Harvest in Spokane and Pasco have proven that in many ways. Even though April is nationally recognized as Volunteer Month, our gratitude for your service is year-round. In the last couple of years, the Volunteer Center in Spokane has gone through various changes and adjustments to keep up with the increase in food demand, prompted first by COVID in 2020 and then by inflation. Even with the changes, our volunteer support has stayed and become even stronger. Our community is filled with mission-driven individuals to help us feed, nourish and build the community around us.
In The Kitchen: Food Waste Prevention Week – April 5
Earth Month is the perfect opportunity to reflect on our habits and how they impact the planet. We might think about how often we drive and take advantage of the nicer weather to bike to work, or maybe even grab some friends and family and find a river cleanup event for Earth Day. But did you know that you can make an impact without even leaving your house? In fact, reflecting on our cooking and grocery shopping habits has the potential to have a greater and long-lasting impact on our environment.
Feeding Eastern Washington and North Idaho
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