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FEEDING HOPE: AUSTIN’S STORY
A moment later, a volunteer was filling Austin’s bag with fresh produce—pears, onions, celery, watermelon and more. It was the end of the month—when Austin and his family typically need a little more food than they can afford.
Like many, Austin uses a food pantry, the Medical Lake Food Bank, to help fill gaps in his family’s grocery budget. He and his wife have three mouths to feed besides theirs, and their incomes don’t always cut it. Austin’s wife is a pre-school teacher, and Austin, a former Apple employee, works at a production company seasonally. His family uses the food pantry more frequently in the colder months, when Austin isn’t working and stays home to take care of his kids.
The food pantry helps Austin and his wife stretch their budget—and ensures they have healthy food on hand. “We love the fresh veggies. Several times we’ve gotten meat that we’ve saved in the freezer, and we hardly ever have to buy bread.”
“We’ll take everything. We love fruits and vegetables.”
With hopes to one day be a high school teacher, Austin plans to get a Master’s degree in teaching in the near future. But for now, Austin and his family can turn to the food pantry for a little extra food and the peace of mind that there’s somewhere to go to get them through a tough time.
Gonzaga’s Dusty Stromer and Zilch: Teaming up to end hunger – March 29
Dusty Stromer understood from a young age that while his family had enough to eat, others in his circle were not so fortunate. Dusty had a courtside seat to food insecurity — he says that by age 10, he knew some of his friends came from households where food was not reliably available.
A freshman shooting guard on the men’s basketball team at Gonzaga University, Dusty recently got a close look at the fight against hunger by touring Second Harvest’s warehouse and helping to distribute free food through its Zilch program.
Grocery Rescue: Changing lives daily – March 22
Your visit to a local grocery store may seem like a routine, unimportant chore. That perfect strawberry, tomato or apple you select is made possible because different departments of your neighborhood store carefully maintain a standard for each product. But what happens when the banana is too green, or the strawberries are too ripe? That product is stranded and without rescue would find its way to the landfill. Thanks to stores partnering with Second Harvest’s Grocery Rescue program, that nutritious food is shared with partner agencies throughout the 26 counties in Eastern Washington and North Idaho served by Second Harvest.
Winter 2024 Newsletter – March 15
Check out the latest news from Second Harvest. Serving people facing hunger across the Inland Northwest.
Feeding Eastern Washington and North Idaho
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